Judge's ruling keeps Diane Neal off ballot
The actress' appeal of a determination that her petitions lacked sufficient signatures has been rejected.
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A state Supreme Court justice has ruled against TV actress Diane Neal in her bid to appear on the November ballot as an independent candidate in the 19th Congressional District race, a spokesman for Neal’s campaign said Friday.
“The judge ruled late yesterday against Diane’s petition,” Jon Tapper said in an email. “We’re meeting now to determine our next steps.”
The ruling came after Neal and fellow independent candidate Dal LaMagna filed appeals of a decision by the state Board of Elections that their nominating petitions were invalid due to having insufficient signatures. The appeals were made to the state Supreme Court in Albany County and cited problems with the way objections to the candidates’ petitions were delivered to them, with Neal’s being delivered to LaMagna, and vice versa.
Neal’s appeal was heard Thursday by Justice Kimberly O’Connor. LaMagna is due in court on Friday, Sept. 7.
Details of the ruling in the Neal case were not immediately available Friday, and neither Neal nor the state Board of Elections returned a reporter’s messages.
According to the formal determination by the Board of Elections, Neal filed a petition with 4,181 signatures to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot, but 1,852 were ruled invalid, leaving her 1,171 signatures short of the 3,500 necessary to be on the ballot.
LaMagna filed a petition with 4,235 signatures, but 1,592 were ruled invalid, according to the determination. That left him 857 signatures short of the 3,500 required.
A third independent candidate, Luisa Parker of Sullivan County, had her petitions ruled invalid in early August.
Neal, a Hurley resident who played prosecutor Casey Novak on the TV crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” had filed to be on the “Friends of Diane Neal” line in her bid for the congressional seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. John Faso.
LaMagna, of Clinton, filed to run on the “Hudson Valley Happiness” line.
Faso, R-Kinderhook, is seeking a second term representing New York’s 19th Congressional District. His election opponents, not including the independents, are Democrat Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck and Green Party candidate Steve Greenfield of New Paltz.
The 19th District comprises all of Ulster, Greene, Columbia, Sullivan, Delaware, Schoharie and Otsego counties; most of Dutchess County; parts of Rensselaer and Montgomery counties; and a small section of Broome County.