Breaking: US Senate Candidate Cara Castronuova Sues NY GOP Chair Ed Cox, Board of Elections in EDNY
Castronuova Seeks GOP Ballot Access; Co-Plaintiff John Tabacco Claims Voter Disenfranchisement and Ed Cox Hininx
By Richard Luthmann
It's April Fools Day, but ballot access for US Senate Candidate Cara Castronuova is no joke. She's spent the last month collecting over 15,000 signatures for a spot in New York State’s June 25 primary election for a seat in the federal government’s upper legislative chamber.
Earlier today, the former boxing champion proved that she was pulling no punches by filing an election law case in Brooklyn Federal Court. She says the New York State GOP and Election law is making her undergo an unconstitutionally rigorous process to obtain ballot access. She further claims Republican GOP primary voters are facing illegal limits on equal protection, voting, and free association rights.
Joining Castronuova as a Co-Plaintiff is political activist and Newsmax personality John Tabacco, who joins the suit as a disenfranchised New York Republican Party voter.
The Plaintiffs claim that NY GOP Chairman Ed Cox’s selection of Letitia James supporter Michael Sapriacone is part of a defective New York State Election law scheme. They claim NYS Board of Elections and GOP Rules, and the politically-motivated provisions of the Election law unduly burden Republican party candidates for US Senate who are not hand selected by party leadership. As a result, Republican voters are denied associational rights and a meaningful ballot opportunity in the party primary.
Claiming that case precedent clearly supports his and Castronuova’s legal position, Tabacco fashions himself as a “Modern-Day Guy Molinari” while invoking the late Staten Island political legend.
“In 2000, Guy Molinari successfully challenged an onerous NYS elections system on behalf of John McCain, who sought access to the Presidential ballot. The crux of that case was the petitioning requirement for tens of thousands of signatures from registered Republican voters. The Court was about to rule against the state party and the Board of Elections when they gave into Guy Molinari and agreed to McCain’s place on the ballot,” Tabacco said.
“Our case is even better than in Molinari v. Powers. Ed Cox’s hand-picked RINO candidate didn't have to get a single signature because of a law change that favors crooked backroom deals over rank and file Republican voters and their right to vote, associate, and support the candidate of their choice. Steve Forbes spent over $1 million in 1996 and was still thrown off the ballot at the NYS Board. And the State GOP-backed candidates still had to get tens of thousands of good signatures to get on the ballot,” Tabacco said.
NYS GOP Chair Ed Cox is embroiled in a related controversy over apparent material conflicts of interest with his duties as a Board member for a charity related to the New York League of Conservation Voters.
Publicly available documents show Cox’s organization contributed to Democratic Party candidates and “green energy” issues in opposition to NYS Republican Party interests.
This story is developing.