W’chester pol battle

There are shades of Tammany Hall-style politics in Westchester County, a new lawsuit alleges.

Mark Elliott, a Manhattan litigator, is suing White Plains Democratic Party bosses for striking his name from a petition supporting a Democratic challenger for mayor — all because he put his address down as being in “WP” instead of spelling out White Plains.

Party leaders challenged Elliott’s residency on the nominating petition to get City Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona on the ballot to challenge Mayor Tom Roach.

Elliott, 53, says the challenge to his signature is retaliation for his speaking out against Roach’s selection of an obese woman to a $175,000-a-year judgeship from which she quickly took medical leave.

“The basis of their challenge is an insult to democracy and common sense,” said Elliott, who is head of the litigation department at the law firm Phillips Nizer.

“I have been an enrolled Democrat in White Plains since I turned 18 in 1982,” he told The Post. “Who knew that Boss Tweed’s legacy would be alive and well in suburban White Plains?”

Roach appointed Elliott to White Plains’ judicial screening committee, but Elliott upset the mayor by alleging “the fix was in” for party chairwoman Elizabeth Shollenberger, whom Roach appointed to the 10-year judgeship even though she was too sick to work, he claims.

A Westchester County Supreme Court judge heard oral arguments on the dispute and is expected to rule Wednesday, said Elliott’s attorney, Marc Landis.

Barry Caro, a spokesman for the mayor’s re-election campaign, said, “This challenge was initiated because, after a standard review of our opponents’ petitions, it was obvious that they had submitted hundreds of clearly invalid signatures from people who don’t live in White Plains, aren’t Democrats, or aren’t registered voters at all — which the Board of Elections has now confirmed.”