Harckham, Democratic Leaders Prevent GOP WEP Takeover In NYSD40

After an examination of an "Opportunity to Ballot" petition of the Women’s Equality Party for the office of State Senator in New York’s 40th Senate District, the NY State Board of Elections has found the petition invalid.

The little-known process, called "Opportunity to Ballot" allows for a write-in candidate to run on a party’s ballot line without the endorsement of the party, and is often employed by political campaigns to take over minor parties by stacking newly registered voters into that party. The invalidated petition, purporting to represent the interests of women, attempted to appoint a committee consisting entirely of men. It was circulated by a Republican notary public, and was mailed from the home address of a major financial contributor to Republican State Senator Terrence Murphy.

Through the coordinated efforts of Peter Harckham's State Senate campaign, along with seven women in the 40th State Senate District who are also Democratic committee chairs from Beekman, Carmel, Cortlandt, New Castle, Peekskill, Pound Ridge and Somers, the attempted takeover of the Women's Equality Party was disqualified.

“If the Republicans had managed to get away with this Women’s Equality Party takeover, it would have been a disaster for our chance to flip the seat,” observed Karen Pecora, chair of the Cortlandt Democratic Committee. “I’m glad Pete Harckham and his campaign had the experience and understanding of election law to recognize this scheme and prevent it from happening. It goes to show that nominating an experienced candidate really does matter.”

“I thank Pete Harckham and the seven women who stood up against this assault on women's rights,” said Women’s Equality Party chair Susan Zimet. “It's fairly obvious to me that Senator Terrence Murphy was behind this failed attempt to hijack the Women's Equality Party without receiving our endorsement.

“As an anti-choice candidate who opposes common sense gun safety measures, it is offensive that Senator Murphy would attempt to run under our party line,” Zimet added. “The WEP stands firmly on the issues and would not support anyone who goes against our values. If you run on WEP, it means you support a women’s right to choose, gun safety and other issues important to women. Senator Murphy needs to be clear where he stands on these issues and not try to fool the voters”.

New York State Senate District 40 includes parts of Northern Westchester (Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Peekskill, Pleasantville, Pound Ridge, Sleepy Hollow, Somers, Yorktown) Putnam (Brewster, Carmel, Patterson, Southeast) and Dutchess (Beekman, Pawling).