Campaign 2009 Begins: Petitions, Objections, And Financial Disclosure Reports Filed
Originally Published in The Monsey Advocate by Daniel Friedman
This week marked the formal beginning of the 2009 campaign season, as designating petitions, objections to those petitions, and reports on campaign fundraising activities were all filed with the Rockland County Board of Elections.
All three types of filings began and ended this week, with the exception of objections to some candidate’s petitions, which will end early next week.
Monday morning marked the first moment that candidates running for offices across Rockland County were able to submit their designating petitions to the Board of Elections. Designating petitions are petitions that state the name of the political candidate or candidates, and the political party whose support they would like for the September and/or November elections. Each petition carries a certain number of signatures, usually 20, from residents who are registered voters of the same party the candidate wants a line on the ballot from.
Campaign laws are complicated, but an example would be Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence, who submitted petitions to be the Democratic candidate, and therefore had to have petitions signed by Ramapo residents who were also registered Democrats.
In the County Executive race, both Scott Vanderhoef, the incumbent, and Thom Kleiner, his Democratic challenger, submitted petitions. Kleiner sent out an e-mail to supporters that his campaign had received 6,000 signatures, around three times what was required by law. There will be no primary in that race, and both candidates will run against each other in the November elections. Paul Piperato, the incumbent County Clerk, also submitted petitions for re-election. He faces no challenger this November.
In Ramapo, Supervisor St. Lawrence submitted about 4,000 signatures, making him the most signed-for candidate in any race in Rockland besides the countywide elections. St. Lawrence’s challenger in the upcoming Democratic Primary, Bruce Levine, submitted approximately 2,500 signatures.
In the Town Justice race, Democratic incumbent Rhoda Schoenberger and her Preserve Ramapo challenger, Marc Citrin, both submitted their petitions.
In Spring Valley, several candidates submitted petitions for the Mayor’s office. Demeza Delhomme was the first candidate to file petitions, and was followed by Noramie Jasmin. Allan Thompson submitted Republican petitions, and several other candidates were preparing their petitions for a last-minute filing.
Joseph Gross, George Garmon, Joseph Desmaret, Phil Rosenthal, William Holmes, and Ebony Thompson, all submitted petitions for the position of Spring Valley Trustee. Of those candidates, two will be elected to the village board. In the race for Village Justice, David Fried and Alan Simon submitted their petitions to appear on the ballot.
The second type of filing made this week was an objection filing.
Candidates, their representatives, or residents, can submit a statement saying they object to the petitions filed by a specific candidate. This is usually done in an attempt to remove the candidate from the ballot entirely by demonstrating that the candidate who filed those petitions did not follow election law, and submitted invalid petitions. Filing valid petitions is the only way for any candidate to get on the ballot in any election.
Once a candidate files his or her petitions, believing they are valid, someone can file an objection to those petitions within three days of the candidate submitting them.
The person making the objection will then receive a copy of all the petitions submitted by the candidate they are objecting to, so they can review them more thoroughly.
The objector then has six days to file what are called “specific objections,” which are detailed objections to the petitions, and can include any number of things that can invalidate a petition, such as a nonresident signing the petition, someone from another party signing the petition, incorrect dates, addresses, etc.
The person filing specific objections must then compile enough objections to invalidate the candidate’s petition package entirely, and the objector must submit those within six days of filing the general objection. The Board of Elections reviews those objections, and if it turns out that the objector was correct, then the candidate’s petitions are declared invalid, and their campaign ends. That candidate then loses their spot on the ballot.
Candidates work very hard to ensure that their petitions are valid. The best way to prevent a petition package from being declared invalid is to get 2-3 times the number of signatures that are required by law.
Each candidate must submit a set amount of signatures, depending on the office they are seeking. For example, Supervisor St. Lawrence needed 1,544 Democrats to sign a Democratic Party petition so that he could appear on the ballot as the Democratic candidate. As always, he and his team of supporters knocked on doors, stood outside of supermarkets and other gathering places, and collected signatures one by one from supportive Ramapo residents who were also registered Democrats. In his filing, Supervisor St. Lawrence submitted approximately 4,000 signatures, a monumental feat.
The reason it is so important to collect more signatures than is necessary is because some signatures will automatically be challenged, because the signer did not sign clearly, or they may have mistakenly believed they were registered Democrats. As a result, all candidates aim to get at least twice the number of signatures required to ensure their package can stand up to the test of an objection filed against it.
This week, the only objection that was filed as of Thursday was an objection to the petitions submitted by Bruce Levine. Objections for most of the candidates can still be filed next week, and it is likely that there will be more objections filed.
The final filings submitted to the Board of Elections this week were campaign finance reports. These reports are submitted on a regular basis by all candidates, but the mid-July report is the first formal declaration of campaign fundraising activity of all candidates. The amount of money raised is very often seen as a measurement of the support a candidate has. This is a particularly useful tool when comparing the amounts of money raised by a candidate and their opponents.
As always, those seeking higher offices raised more money. In the race for County Executive, Thom Kleiner, the Democratic candidate, raised almost $280,000 in the last six months, and spent just over $40,000 in the same period. Between the funds he had in his last campaign account for Town Supervisor of Orangetown, and the funds he raised for his current campaign, he holds a balance of $369,578.64. His opponent, County Executive Scott Vanderhoef, raised $115,658, and spent $117,966.13. He had almost $200,000 in his accounts before the campaign began, so his current balance is $194,148.28.
In the race for Ramapo Supervisor, Preserve Ramapo candidate Bruce Levine raised $22,371.32, and spent $11,134.33. His balance as a result is $11,236.99. Much of the contributions he received came from one check, which was given to him on July 10th. The check was for $6,000.00, and was given to him by Robert Rhodes, the chairman of Preserve Ramapo. Levine’s last filing, which was for his county legislature race, shows a negative balance of 2,667.82.
Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence on the other hand, raised $107,801.00, and spend $50,256.62. Before the campaign, he had $81,029.45, and he now has a balance of $138,573.83.
With the primaries two months away, campaigns are fully under way. Now that all the candidates have filed their initial documents, it remains to be seen what the rest of the campaign season will bring.
This week marked the formal beginning of the 2009 campaign season, as designating petitions, objections to those petitions, and reports on campaign fundraising activities were all filed with the Rockland County Board of Elections.
All three types of filings began and ended this week, with the exception of objections to some candidate’s petitions, which will end early next week.
Monday morning marked the first moment that candidates running for offices across Rockland County were able to submit their designating petitions to the Board of Elections. Designating petitions are petitions that state the name of the political candidate or candidates, and the political party whose support they would like for the September and/or November elections. Each petition carries a certain number of signatures, usually 20, from residents who are registered voters of the same party the candidate wants a line on the ballot from.
Campaign laws are complicated, but an example would be Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence, who submitted petitions to be the Democratic candidate, and therefore had to have petitions signed by Ramapo residents who were also registered Democrats.
In the County Executive race, both Scott Vanderhoef, the incumbent, and Thom Kleiner, his Democratic challenger, submitted petitions. Kleiner sent out an e-mail to supporters that his campaign had received 6,000 signatures, around three times what was required by law. There will be no primary in that race, and both candidates will run against each other in the November elections. Paul Piperato, the incumbent County Clerk, also submitted petitions for re-election. He faces no challenger this November.
In Ramapo, Supervisor St. Lawrence submitted about 4,000 signatures, making him the most signed-for candidate in any race in Rockland besides the countywide elections. St. Lawrence’s challenger in the upcoming Democratic Primary, Bruce Levine, submitted approximately 2,500 signatures.
In the Town Justice race, Democratic incumbent Rhoda Schoenberger and her Preserve Ramapo challenger, Marc Citrin, both submitted their petitions.
In Spring Valley, several candidates submitted petitions for the Mayor’s office. Demeza Delhomme was the first candidate to file petitions, and was followed by Noramie Jasmin. Allan Thompson submitted Republican petitions, and several other candidates were preparing their petitions for a last-minute filing.
Joseph Gross, George Garmon, Joseph Desmaret, Phil Rosenthal, William Holmes, and Ebony Thompson, all submitted petitions for the position of Spring Valley Trustee. Of those candidates, two will be elected to the village board. In the race for Village Justice, David Fried and Alan Simon submitted their petitions to appear on the ballot.
The second type of filing made this week was an objection filing.
Candidates, their representatives, or residents, can submit a statement saying they object to the petitions filed by a specific candidate. This is usually done in an attempt to remove the candidate from the ballot entirely by demonstrating that the candidate who filed those petitions did not follow election law, and submitted invalid petitions. Filing valid petitions is the only way for any candidate to get on the ballot in any election.
Once a candidate files his or her petitions, believing they are valid, someone can file an objection to those petitions within three days of the candidate submitting them.
The person making the objection will then receive a copy of all the petitions submitted by the candidate they are objecting to, so they can review them more thoroughly.
The objector then has six days to file what are called “specific objections,” which are detailed objections to the petitions, and can include any number of things that can invalidate a petition, such as a nonresident signing the petition, someone from another party signing the petition, incorrect dates, addresses, etc.
The person filing specific objections must then compile enough objections to invalidate the candidate’s petition package entirely, and the objector must submit those within six days of filing the general objection. The Board of Elections reviews those objections, and if it turns out that the objector was correct, then the candidate’s petitions are declared invalid, and their campaign ends. That candidate then loses their spot on the ballot.
Candidates work very hard to ensure that their petitions are valid. The best way to prevent a petition package from being declared invalid is to get 2-3 times the number of signatures that are required by law.
Each candidate must submit a set amount of signatures, depending on the office they are seeking. For example, Supervisor St. Lawrence needed 1,544 Democrats to sign a Democratic Party petition so that he could appear on the ballot as the Democratic candidate. As always, he and his team of supporters knocked on doors, stood outside of supermarkets and other gathering places, and collected signatures one by one from supportive Ramapo residents who were also registered Democrats. In his filing, Supervisor St. Lawrence submitted approximately 4,000 signatures, a monumental feat.
The reason it is so important to collect more signatures than is necessary is because some signatures will automatically be challenged, because the signer did not sign clearly, or they may have mistakenly believed they were registered Democrats. As a result, all candidates aim to get at least twice the number of signatures required to ensure their package can stand up to the test of an objection filed against it.
This week, the only objection that was filed as of Thursday was an objection to the petitions submitted by Bruce Levine. Objections for most of the candidates can still be filed next week, and it is likely that there will be more objections filed.
The final filings submitted to the Board of Elections this week were campaign finance reports. These reports are submitted on a regular basis by all candidates, but the mid-July report is the first formal declaration of campaign fundraising activity of all candidates. The amount of money raised is very often seen as a measurement of the support a candidate has. This is a particularly useful tool when comparing the amounts of money raised by a candidate and their opponents.
As always, those seeking higher offices raised more money. In the race for County Executive, Thom Kleiner, the Democratic candidate, raised almost $280,000 in the last six months, and spent just over $40,000 in the same period. Between the funds he had in his last campaign account for Town Supervisor of Orangetown, and the funds he raised for his current campaign, he holds a balance of $369,578.64. His opponent, County Executive Scott Vanderhoef, raised $115,658, and spent $117,966.13. He had almost $200,000 in his accounts before the campaign began, so his current balance is $194,148.28.
In the race for Ramapo Supervisor, Preserve Ramapo candidate Bruce Levine raised $22,371.32, and spent $11,134.33. His balance as a result is $11,236.99. Much of the contributions he received came from one check, which was given to him on July 10th. The check was for $6,000.00, and was given to him by Robert Rhodes, the chairman of Preserve Ramapo. Levine’s last filing, which was for his county legislature race, shows a negative balance of 2,667.82.
Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence on the other hand, raised $107,801.00, and spend $50,256.62. Before the campaign, he had $81,029.45, and he now has a balance of $138,573.83.
With the primaries two months away, campaigns are fully under way. Now that all the candidates have filed their initial documents, it remains to be seen what the rest of the campaign season will bring.
Posted by Reserve Ramapo Staff Writer at Thursday, August 13, 2009 11:24:00 AM 
Categories: Board of Elections, Campaign, Rockland County, Republican Party, Reserve Ramapo, Campaign 2009, Ramapo
Tags: Marc Citrin Reserve Ramapo Republican Party Rockland County Independence Party Campaign Campaign 2009 Christopher P. St. Lawrence Ramapo Board of Elections
Categories: Board of Elections, Campaign, Rockland County, Republican Party, Reserve Ramapo, Campaign 2009, Ramapo
Tags: Marc Citrin Reserve Ramapo Republican Party Rockland County Independence Party Campaign Campaign 2009 Christopher P. St. Lawrence Ramapo Board of Elections
That's like Levine. He sent out literature bashing about patronage, yet that's how he's had work the past 20 years or so
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