The Board of Elections ruled yesterday that Michael Allegretti failed to file the correct amount of valid signatures to run a third-party line in November.

The line, called “The Taxpayer’s Party” was one that Allegretti tried to create just for the purpose of the general election, although it does bare some similarity to lines created by GOP governor hopeful Carl Paladino and Long Island congressional candidate Chris Cox.

Allegretti submitted 5288 signatures but 2,001 of them were ruled invalid. Candidates must file at least 3,500 but often try to do many times more than that.

The Grimm campaign is having a good time with this, and says it shows that the Allegretti camp is in disarray.

“It’s inconceivable that the Allegretti campaign could have submitted a petition that was this flawed,” says Grimm adviser (and SI powerbroker) Guy Molinari,  “It is a clear indication that his campaign is in chaos and not attracting the type of grassroots support necessary to beat Mike McMahon in November.”

Grimm will be on the ballot in November as the Conservative nominee, even if he loses the primary next week.

UPDATE:

The Allegretti campaign sent along a response, accusing the Grimm campaign of running scared from an honest fight–and using dirty tricks to do it..

“The Grimm campaign combed through each of our 5000-plus signatures, spending the time and money on lawyers to do it,” said Allegretti campaign manager Marco DeSena. “Of the approximate 4,200 [signatures] they challenged, the board found less than half actually had problems. And most of these were very minor problems. Their campaign has to try to win some way, because it’s surely not going to be Grimm’s background or ideas carrying them to victory.”

 

 

 

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