The May 5 special election to fill the vacant 43rd Assembly District seat – which is already strange for not having anybody running on the Democratic Party line – got stranger yesterday when Brooklyn Green Party Chair Gloria Mattera put in an objection to the Board of Elections of her Party’s own certificate of nomination for Diana Richardson.
Aaron Maslow, the attorney for one of the other candidates, Geoffrey Davis, discovered the objection.
Mattera said she filed the objection to the certificate she had signed and turned in late last month after learning that Richardson was also running on the Working Families Party (WFP) line. Under Brooklyn Green Party bylaws, the party cannot carry any candidate that is running on the Democratic or Republican Party line or of any Parties allied with the two mainstream parties, she said.
The WFP is closely allied with the Democratic Party just like the Conservative Party is allied with the Republican Party, and the Green Party doesn’t do cross endorsements with corporate party candidates, she explained.
Mattera said the Brooklyn Greens endorsed Richardson after she told Part officials she was running on her own Time Is Now Party line, which wouldn’t interfere with their bylaws.
“We have no ill will for Diana and we would have liked to carry her on our line, but the Working Families Party must have known we were supporting her but never said anything. They mostly ignore any attempts we made to reach out to them. Over many elections we can show many instances when the WFP tried to marginalize or neutralize Green Party influence,” she said.
“I know many WFP rank-and-file members in the Park Slope area where I live and they have always been very friendly and supportive of the Green Party, but their leadership has not responded to our efforts to talk,” she added.
WFP spokesperson Nancy Goldstein said any ill feelings between the two Parties is news to her.
“No one here has received any correspondence from the Green Party, but if they want to talk, we’ll be happy to speak to them,” said Goldstein.
Richardson did not return any phone calls, texts or emails.
Maslow said two other objections to nominating certificates were also filed – one against Davis and another against the Green Party.
If no one follows up on the objections they will be dropped, but if the objector follows up the matter will be further investigated, Maslow said.
