Democratic committee chair asks town chair to step down

Posted 8/21/12

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Daryl Kaplan, the chair of the Sullivan County Democratic Committee, who has said he is stepping down after the party primary in September, has written to Nadia Rajsz, …

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Democratic committee chair asks town chair to step down

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SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Daryl Kaplan, the chair of the Sullivan County Democratic Committee, who has said he is stepping down after the party primary in September, has written to Nadia Rajsz, supervisor of the Town of Lumberland, who is running in a primary against Kathy LaBuda for the Democratic nomination to be the candidate for legislature in District Two.

Kaplan’s letter finds fault with Rajsz for also seeking support from Republicans in the district in a process known as a “Wilson-Pakula,” which allows candidates in New York State to receive endorsements from more than one political party. In Sullivan County and elsewhere in the state, candidates run not only on the Republican or Democratic line, but also on the Conservative, Independent, Working Families, Green, Rural Heritage and other party lines.

Kaplan, however, asserts in his letter, “As the Town of Lumberland chair, seeking the Wilson-Pakula is less than the proper thing to do because if you receive it, you will be beholden to the Republican Party for your political life in the electoral process.”

In a phone conversation Rajsz said she has every right to seek additional endorsements, which is a very common practice in Sullivan County and in the state in general. She said she has no intention of stepping down as the chair of the town Demcratic committee, and she is also seeking the endorsement of the Working Families party. She said, “I have not compromised my principals, and I am moving forward,” with her campaign for the legislative seat.

The issue sparked a letter from the chair of the Democratic Committee of the Town of Callicoon, Bruce Ferguson, who wrote to Kaplan, and said, “As you well know, virtually every political candidate in New York State seeks the endorsement of multiple political parties. This is not a basis for demanding that a candidate step down from a leadership position within the Democratic Party. Last year Democrat Andrew Cuomo appeared on the ballot on four separate party lines. I don’t recall you saying that he must renounce his leadership position in the state Democratic Party because he was ‘beholden’ to the Working Families Party, the Independence Party and the Women’s Equality Party.”

Ferguson noted that LaBuda is chair of the Democratic Committee in the Town of Mamakating and is seeking endorsement from the Conservative party, and Kaplan is not suggesting that she step down from that post.

Ferguson’s letter drew a response from Steven Vegliante, supervisor of the Town of Fallsburg and chair of the Democratic Party in that town. He said it was the fact that Rajsz was seeking the Republican endorsement, not the less powerful parties, that made this situation unique.

He wrote that not only should Rajsz resign as committee chair, but perhaps Ferguson should also resign because he supports Rajsz, who may become a Republican-endorsed candidate. He wrote, “Our committee has, again, in my opinion a responsibility to endorse and assist candidates. That is not to say on an individual basis that members can’t support another candidate in a primary; they can, and if they feel passionately they should, but when you are a member of the Democratic Committee, and a leader in the party to boot, public support of Republican candidates is, I believe, a basis for removal from the committee and that process is codified in the election law, I believe.”

Ferguson responded to Vegliante, writing, “I have said very plainly that I believe that both registered Democrats who are competing to be the party candidate in a race for a seat in the Sullivan County Legislature deserve to be treated even-handedly and with respect by party officials. Please tell me how, in your mind, this is ‘public support of Republican candidates’?”

Visit www.riverreporter.com to see the full letters.

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