Campaign Practices Group Rules Keegan Unfair Over Rally

Editor's Note: This article has been revised to include a response from Stephanie Keegan, the Democratic candidate for New York Assembly District 94.

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Stephanie Keegan, the challenger trying to unseat New York Assemblyman Kevin Bryne, used unfair campaign practices to attack her opponent, the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee has ruled.

The actions of a Putnam County man who interrupted a racial justice rally Aug. 22 in a pickup truck with a sign "F--k Black Lives" provided the content of the complaints. A 54-year-old Kent man has been charged with menacing.

Byrne is running for re-election in District 94, which includes eastern and central Putnam County plus Yorktown and Somers in Westchester. Keegan is the Democratic challenger. Byrne has the Republican, Conservative and Independence party lines on the ballot in November.

The committee met via Zoom Sept. 30 to hear Byrne's complaints against Keegan. Byrne was represented by Matthew Covucci, his campaign manager. Keegan attended and was accompanied by Suki Van Dijk, her campaign manager.

Byrne's campaign complained that on Aug. 25, Keegan created a false and misleading impression when she shared on Facebook a post created by the Putnam Young Democrats which included the sentence "Kevin Byrne refuses to condemn racist attack in his district."

The Fair Practices Committee agreed with Byrne.

The word 'refused' implies that there was a request to condemn that Mr. Byrne rejected. There was no evidence that Mr. Byrne 'refused' to condemn a racist incident in his district. On August 23, 2020, Mr. Byrne condemned the incident on a resident’s Facebook page, and on August 25, 2020, Mr. Byrne posted a condemnation on his own Facebook page. The Committee does recognize that social media creates significant challenges and layers of complexities for candidates. Ms. Keegan’s post violates the following FCPC Guidance: 'A candidate is urged to exercise great care when characterizing his/her opponent’s positions. In the absence of a specifically publicly stated position on an issue, a candidate should avoid attributing a position on this issue to her/his opponent.'

Byrne also filed a complaint saying that Keegan engaged in an unfair campaign practice by promoting an image featuring him next to an image of the truck with the F--k Black Lives sign on it, thereby creating the false and misleading impression that the Assemblyman is somehow associated with racist behavior.

The committee agreed, saying there was no evidence provided that Byrne was in any way associated with the truck pictured. The juxtaposition violated the following FCPC Principle: "The candidate will not use or condone any campaign material…that misleads the public."

Byrne thanked the members of the Westchester Fair Campaign Practices Committee hearing the complaints.

"The incident in question was a disgusting display of hate and ignorance and universal condemnation of acts like this are a given," he said in a news release. "I understand our opponent is a first-time candidate, but this type of political attack only fans the flames of hate and should not be tolerated by anyone- regardless of political affiliation. I do appreciate that it appears she has since taken her post down from Facebook, even though it remains on Twitter."

Keegan said a comment he made on a private citizen’s Facebook page does not constitute a public statement.

"Public statements by candidates and elected officials set the goalposts of accountability: the louder a politician says something, the more willing they must be to stand by it," she told Patch. "Voters shouldn’t have to dig through individuals’ Facebook pages to hold their leaders accountable, and I feel the WFCPC’s ruling deals a blow to accountability by setting such an expectation."

SEE: Kent Man Faces Menacing Charge Over Putnam Courthouse Incident