PLATTSBURGH — A recent lawsuit filed by the leadership of the Clinton County Republican Party would have taken county Family Court judge candidate Amy Asadourian Senecal, a Democrat, off the ballot in the general election this November if it was successful.
The Republican Party had alleged in the now-dismissed lawsuit, filed in Clinton County Supreme Court against Senecal and the Clinton County Democratic Committee last month, that the committee’s nomination of Senecal for the seat was “invalid” on the grounds that they “failed to properly organize” as a party, making them unauthorized “to issue the certificate of nomination.”
SUIT DISMISSED
Acting Supreme Court Justice Glen T. Bruening, though, officially dismissed the lawsuit Aug. 11.
Former Republican Family Court Judge Timothy J. Lawliss, who retired in April of this year and opened the door for a special election to fill his seat this November, represented Senecal in the lawsuit.
Senecal said in a statement that she was pleased the Republican leadership’s attempt to remove her name — as well as any other Democratic candidate — from the Democratic line for the Family Court judge seat this November was unsuccessful.
“…Although the Republican leadership never claimed I personally did anything wrong, the lawsuit, if successful, would have prevented the Clinton County Democratic Party from listing a candidate for Clinton County Family Court Judge on the Democratic line,” Senecal said.
“If successful, the Republican leadership would have effectively denied the voters of Clinton Clinton the opportunity to select their next Family Court judge. With the defeat of this lawsuit Clinton County voters will now have that choice.”
Senecal, who is running against Republican candidate Hilary Rogers, went on to say she now looks forward to continuing her “campaign, meeting people, and sharing with voters why I believe the fact that I have dedicated my thirty year legal career to family law, including over twenty years working in Clinton County Family Court, qualifies me to be the next Clinton County Family Court Judge.”
PARTY CHAIR RESPONDS
Chairperson of the Clinton County Republican Party, Jerika Manning, disagreed with Senecal’s take that they would be denying voters a choice if their lawsuit was successful.
In a provided statement, Manning also said she and the committee “are reviewing the recent decision regarding the authority of the Clinton County Democratic Party to nominate candidates, specifically for the position of Clinton County Family Court Judge.”
“The Court’s decision was made on procedural grounds and it should not be misconstrued as a blessing from the Court for the Democrat Committee to make the nomination,” Manning said.
“We believe it is crucial to emphasize this distinction to avoid any misinterpretation or confusion.”
Asked for clarification on her statement, Manning explained that, “The specific thing that we were looking at was the number of petitions that needed to be signed in order for members of the Democratic committee to be represented at the county level.”
Manning said a minimum threshold of 25% of signatures was required and she alleged the committee did not meet that requirement, of which the judge and committee never denied, she added.
“And what I mean by that is not enough Democrats in Clinton County sign the petitions for all of their voices to be heard. That’s what the 25% rule is about,” she said.
“It’s about getting as many Democrats to pick who they want representing them in these situations as possible, and they didn’t even meet that minimum threshold. So I would say … We’re not taking the power of the voters away in this November election. That was already taken away from the Democrat voters when they didn’t get enough signatures.”