Queens court upholds BOE’s decisions to kick candidates off ballot

A handful of Queens political candidates had their candidacies officially thrown out before a Queens judge at Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term on Tuesday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schawch

By Ryan Schwach

Queens Supreme Court on Sutphin Boulevard played host to a precession of political and legal formalities as rulings from the Board of Elections made the day prior on the fate of several Queens candidates were confirmed before a judge Tuesday.

Queens candidates Sandro Navarro, Bernard Chow, Vera Daniels, Supreet McGrath and Phillip Grant had their names officially struck from the primary and general election ballots on Tuesday, a day after the Board of Elections invalidated their petitions.

Another candidate, Allen Wang, was taken off the ballot as a Republican for District 20, but will remain on the ballot under the Conservative Party line.

The entirety of the hearing, which was before Queens Supreme Court Judge Tracy Catapano-Fox, lasted only about 20 minutes.

While quick and orderly, it was the final procedural nail in the coffin for those Queens candidates who up to that point had a glimmer of hope they would be able to vie for a chance to become elected officials come next year.

Among them was Navarro, a staffer for State Senator Jessica Ramos, who was withdrawn after failing to gather enough signatures to meet the threshold.

Neither he nor any legal representative appeared in court on Tuesday. He also did not respond to requests for comment.

The case against Navarro was brought by Queens County Democratic Party-backed candidate Yanna Henriquez and the party’s lawyers, Frank Bolz and Michael Reich of Sweeney, Reich and Bolz.

Navarro struggled to fundraise in the crowded field competing to replace City Councilmember Francisco Moya in District 21.

At one point he was nearly $30,000 in the red, and failed to gain any notable endorsements while his opponents did.

Chow, who was running as a Republican against District 23 incumbent Linda Lee was also struck from the ballot.

He fell below the threshold by a “considerable amount,” Lee’s lawyer, Ali Najmi, said in court.

Daniels, who was seeking to primary Democratic incumbent City Councilmember Nantasha Williams, also fell short and her attorney sent a stipulation saying she would not attempt to validate her signatures.

Williams and Sweeney, Reich and Bolz brought the suit.

Republican McGrath also did not show up in court Tuesday, and was kicked off the ballot for District 29.

Her scheduled opponent, John David Rinaldi, will run unopposed in the primary and face Democratic incumbent City Councilmember Lynn Schulman in November.

Rinaldi, who has become a notorious figure in Queens politics for his habit of allegedly harassing political opponents, remains on the ballot for the Council but had his petitions for a state committee position tossed.

The case against McGrath was brought by Najmi as well.

Civil Court candidate Grant was also struck from the ballot, falling 300 signatures short of the needed amount, Bolz said in court on Monday.

Earlier this month, the Eagle reported that some of Grant’s signatures were believed to be forgeries after several Southeast Queens residents said they did not sign a petition where their names appeared.

The suit against Grant was brought by Democratic Party-endorsed candidate Gail A. Adams, who will now be running unopposed in the Democratic Primary for the 4th Municipal Court District.

The page of signatures was allegedly from residents in the South Jamaica Houses, and included Latoya LeGrand, who is running for City Council District 28.

Former Councilmember Ruben Wills, one of LeGrand’s opponents, was listed as a candidate on the petition with Grant, but no suits were brought against him and he will appear on the ballot come June.

At least one petition case will be heard in court at a later date.

Hiram Monserrate, who is prevented from running for City Council because of a city law banning those convicted of corruption, like Monserrate, from running for city office, was kicked off the ballot by the BOE on Monday. He’s challenging the ruling and the city law in a Manhattan court. A court date has yet to be set but will likely come in May.

Monserrate is seeking to validate his petitions after two of his opponents sued to get them tossed on the grounds that the law on the books which bars him from running for Council invalidates all of his petitions.

The Board of Elections sided with his opponents on Monday – but the validation is Monserrate’s last shot.

He is also hoping for a favorable ruling in a state appeals court in a case brought by supporters of his seeking to throw out the City Council law.

Other candidates had their petitions thrown out in the Board of Elections on Monday, but did not have lawsuits before the court system.

They include Republican Joseph Chou who was running for District 20, Giovanni Enrique Franco, a Republican running in District 21 and Andrew Okunfeff, who was planning to run against Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez.

District 30 Democratic candidate Mike Lopez and Civil Court candidate Terista Morales had their candidacies struck even before the BOE made their final determinations on Monday.

With the arduous petition process effectively over, the official primary ballots will be certified by the Board of Election on May 1, giving a clear-eyed view of who will appear on the ballot in June.