A third-party congressional candidate is being pushed off the New York vote by the “party of democracy” out of concern that he will deflect votes from Democrat prospect Mondaire Jones, according to a new complaint. The move is a reflection of national Democrats ‘ attempts to overthrow third-party prospects who’s life threatens their electoral possibilities.
The lawsuit, filed by the Democratic Party officials of Westchester and Putnam regions along with four city citizens, alleges that Anthony Frascone, who won the Working Families Party nomination in the June key, could possibly smuggle seats from the previous agent in New York’s 17th Congressional District, putting pressure on Jones ‘ chances of winning. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is currently seeking election after just winning in 2022, holds the chair.
According to the lawsuit, Frascone “has engaged in a revolutionary plan to influence the results of the November 5, 2024 General vote by siphoning and preventing the public from ballot for” Jones, alleging that Frascone “devised a scheme to reduce the vote” on Election Day.
The suit accuses the third-party prospect of “ineffective, phony, fraudulent, and illegitimate, vote practices” and insists “his position on the standard ballots for the November 5, 2024 general election ballot as a candidate of the Working Families Party may be deemed null and void”.
The lawsuit asks the board of elections to forbid his name from appearing on any additional ballots.
On Friday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Janet C. Malone issued an Order to Show Cause, stating that respondents must” show cause” why the court should n’t “void” Frascone’s candidacy and remove him from the ballot. This includes commissioners on the state election board and county election commissioners.
Democratic candidates (up until and including Kamala Harris ‘ presidential runoff ) occasionally receive nominations from the Working Families Party, which allows their names to appear twice on voters ‘ ballots as the Democratic Party nominee and the Working Families Party nominee. Jones and Frascone squared off for the Working Families Party nomination, but Jones lost by a margin of 90 votes, or 18 percent. Jones ‘ outrage comes just two years after he reportedly made the decision to leave his New York. 17 constituents after the lines were redrawn. Jones attempted to run in New York. 10, but lost the primary to Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman.
Democrats claim to be supporters of democracy, but their candidate for president received no votes, according to a New York GOP operative who was aware of the situation. They are now suing in an effort to remove Anthony Frascone, who actually received the votes needed to appear on the ballot in November.
” Democrats know they’re in trouble”, the operative said. ” Mike Lawler has represented the 17th district admirably. The electorates are aware of that.
For Jones, the presence of a third-party candidate could jeopardize his chance of winning. In the midterm election of 2022, Lawler defeated then-Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney by less than 1,800 votes. According to LoHud, there were roughly 1,600 voters in District 17 who were registered as members of the Working Families Party as of last year.
Frascone, a former Republican, registered with the Working Families Party in 2012, according to Gothamist. However, according to reports, Democrats and the Working Families Party claim Frascone is a plant.
Shannon Geison, a spokeswoman for Jones ‘ campaign, accused “MAGA Republicans” of” trying to steal the Working Families Party line in order to elect Mike Lawler”. But Chris Russell, a spokesman for Lawler’s campaign, chalked the accusations up to Jones trying” to save face after an embarrassing loss”, according to Gothamist.
The attempt by New York Democrats to remove Frascone from the electoral process mimics tactics their party has used against a number of third-party candidates in other parts of the country. After unsuccessful previous attempts, Democrats successfully removed Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz from the Georgia presidential race. According to the Georgia Recorder, De la Cruz previously stated that” The Democratic Party wanted to restrict the choices available to Georgia voters because they did n’t want to compete with a socialist campaign.”
West was also kicked off the ballot in Michigan and Pennsylvania by the Democrat-led Bureau of Elections and state supreme court, respectively. De la Cruz was similarly knocked off the ballot in Pennsylvania.
After the state’s Supreme Court “agreed with state Democrats ‘ claims that the Green Party used incorrect affidavit language on its signature petition,” Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who took a small but notable portion of the vote in 2016 ( and then took partial responsibility for Hillary Clinton’s loss ), was removed from the Nevada ballot, according to my colleague Shawn Fleetwood. The language Stein’s campaign used, however, was provided by Nevada’s Democrat secretary of state.
Democrats also engaged in a flurry of votes to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the ballot out of fear that he would sway the Democrat nominee until Kennedy voluntarily endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump, at which point Democrats began to try to persuade Kennedy to remain on the ballot. In North Carolina, Democrats initially sued to keep Kennedy off the ballot. Democrats tried to keep him on the ballot in hopes that his presence would sway the Republican after Kennedy withdrawn from the race in key battleground states and supporting Trump. Kennedy’s name will remain off the ballot, according to the North Carolina Supreme Court’s recent ruling, but his attempts to withdraw from other battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin have failed. After the Michigan Supreme Court granted the Democrat Secretary of State the right to keep his name on the ballot, Kennedy will continue to cast his objection on the issue.
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Brianna Lyman is a correspondent for The Federalist on elections. With a degree in International Political Economy, Brianna received her degree from Fordham University. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2