Normally, wrapping up the arduous process of circulating political nominating petitions is a time of celebration.
This year, the celebration is tempered with uncertainty after state Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister declared the state’s congressional and legislative redistricting plan unconstitutional.
“The Warren Country Republican Committee is just finishing up this year’s petition cycle,” said Warren County Republican Chairman George Ferone, who said the judge’s decision surprised him.
“Over the next few weeks, we will find out if the work the committee performed this past month will need to be redone, as the petitions will be invalidated if new district maps are approved, yet again,” Ferone said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James, in a joint statement on Thursday, said the state intends to appeal the Supreme Court decision. The Associated Press reported that notices of appeal were filed on Friday.
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John Faso, a lawyer and former congressman who advised Republican plaintiffs in the Supreme Court lawsuit, said he expected the state appellate court likely would move fast, given the election season time sensitivity.
“I expect that this hearing would be in the Court of Appeals in late April,” he said.
“I expect that they (lawyers and the court) will attempt to expedite that,” agreed Lynne Boecher, the Warren County Democratic chairwoman.
The state Board of Elections advised candidates on Friday to submit nominating petitions, as planned, beginning on Monday.
Boecher said that state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs sent an email to county chairs on Friday advising: “Keep calm and petition on.”
Democratic congressional candidate Ezra Watson said he already is struggling to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot, and it would be frustrating if he and his volunteers had to circulate petitions again for a redrawn district.
“I spent a good solid three days (collecting signatures),” he said in a telephone interview on Friday. “I might have wasted three days.”
Watson said he was surprised with the judge’s decision.
“At first, I was thinking it was an April Fools’ joke,” he said.
Watson, a technician from Wilton, is one of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville.
Matt Putorti, a second Democratic candidate, said he is set to file nominating petitions next week.
“We have more (signatures) than what we need, but we are still out their knocking on doors,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.
Putorti, a lawyer from Whitehall, said uncertainty over district boundaries does not change the importance of defeating Stefanik.
“I think at the end of the day, the lines might change. They might not,” he said. “We’re following it closely.”
The third candidate, Matt Castelli, a former CIA counterterrorism official from the town of Saratoga, said in a statement that his campaign is “in a strong position” to file more than enough signatures than what is required to get on the ballot.
“This campaign has generated support from every county and every committee,” he said.
Stefanik praised the judge’s decision.
“The decision rendered by Judge Patrick McAllister is a win for all New Yorkers and confirms what we have been saying all along: New York Democrats drew gerrymandered congressional lines to protect themselves and hurt all New Yorkers,” she said in a statement.
The judge’s decision also creates uncertainty about the date of congressional and legislative primaries, currently scheduled for June 28.
Faso said that the Supreme Court judge left it up to Governor Hochul and the Legislature to decide whether to delay the primary.
Delaying the primary could make campaigns more costly, said Robert Turner, a political science professor at Skidmore College.
June primaries typically have low turnout, so candidates identify voters that voted in previous primaries and contact those voters directly, he explained.
“Those primary campaigns become about hand-to-hand combat,” he said.
The later the primary, the greater the expected turnout, causing candidates to spend money on indirect campaigning such as television advertising and mass mailings, he said.
Delaying the primary also could delay contributions from major donors, many of whom prefer to wait until the nominee is decided to contribute.
“It certainly looks like the decision is going to help the incumbent” in races where a primary will determine the challenger, he said.