The audio file above was recorded about 8:20pm on June 30, 2015, when two petitioners came to my door looking for me. They were collecting signatures on petitions for candidates for Suffolk County Family Court Judge to run on the Green Party line. The judicial candidates were George Harkin of Baiting Hollow and Matthew Hughes of Huntington. One petition signature collector was Meaghan Howard, an attorney. The other petitioner was her husband, who stated that the Judge candidates Harkin and Hughes were “nominated” by the Green Party. Ms. Howard reinforced his statements by saying that the candidates are “backed” by the Green Party.
In no way were Harkin or Hughes “nominated” or “backed” by the Green Party. I have checked with the Green Party Suffolk County Chair and New York State Co-Chair: There are no Green Party judge candidates in Suffolk County. Furthermore, the current NY State Green Party rules would prevent the party from cross-endorsing these candidates. Harkin is a Republican and Hughes is a Conservative. The NY State Green Party rules prevent cross-endorsement of any of the other ballot access party candidates (Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independence, or Working Families).
The petitioners wrongly stated that Harkin and Hughes were “nominated” and “backed” in order to falsely induce a signature on their petition.
To find out what to do in the upcoming primary, please read this post: Who to write-in for in the 9/10/15 Suffolk Green Party Primary?
–Ian Wilder
Filed under: 3rd party, Ballot issues, election, grassroots democracy, Green Party, Long Island Politics, New York State Politics, News, suffolk county Tagged: | Family Court, George Harkin, Matthew Hughes, Meaghan Howard, primary
Leave a Reply