Judicial hopefuls differ over ‘mistake’
Campaign mailer in Schenectady race is bone of contention
City Court judge candidate Andrew Healey apologized on social media this week to Kate Mcguirl, his fellow attorney and primary election challenger, for a mailer that incorrectly said he is the only one in the race with “trial experience and experience in criminal, civil and municipal law.”
“I unequivocally apologize to Kate Mcguirl and her campaign for any misrepresentation caused by my political mailers,” Healey posted in part Tuesday on his Facebook election page, adding “a mistake was made during revisions.”
He said that “as a judicial candidate we need to be above that and have empathy when the situation calls for it” and the statement ends by saying that “this mistake will not happen again.”
Mcguirl said late Tuesday she had not seen the apology on Facebook but had a hard time believing the claim she contends was made in three different pieces of election mailings to voters was a mistake.
“I’ve been a lawyer for 17 years, I’ve never seen this happen in a judicial campaign, judges cannot lie, there’s the judicial ethics standards, there’s reported opinions and commentary contained within those pages that talks about how a judge must be truthful,” she said. “He’s the endorsed candidate, all he had to do was run on his record and instead he decided to sling mud and to lie to voters.”
She said that Healey should know better because “he sits there in court while I’m trying cases and waits his turn.”
Healey, 40, did not respond Wednesday to a message to his personal email or another left on his work phone seeking comment.
Mcguirl, 44, earlier this week was endorsed by Schenectady City Council members John Mootooveren and Marion Porterfield, who is council president.
Mcguirl has tried criminal and civil an municipal cases as a Legal Aid attorney during her tenure with the city of Schenectady as an assistant corporation counsel, and more recently when she was Rotterdam town attorney.
She also took exception to Healey, who was born and
raised in the Electric City, attempting to brand her as an outsider. She points out that she’s lived in the city since 2009 and her two young children attend Schenectady schools.
Election day is June 28 but early voting begins Saturday. Both candidates are Democrats.
Around the time he launched his campaign to become a jurist in March, Healey told the Times Union that he was “uniquely qualified” because he is a Schenectady native, who maintains his
law practice in the city, and has “tried hundreds
of criminal and civil jury and nonjury trials similar to those that he would make decisions on if he was on the bench.
He’s served on the board of directors for the Center for Community Justice and president of the Schenectady County Bar Association from June 2019 through June 2021.
Mcguirl, former chair of the Women’s Bar Association Judicial Qualifications Committee, previously touted the totality of her work experience saying “every aspect of my resume has touched City Court.”
The winner will take the bench on Jan. 1 for a 10-year term, succeeding
Judge Robert Hoffman, who turns 70 this year, the mandatory age for retirement.
The other Schenectady City Court judges are Mark Caruso, Carl Falotico, and Teneka Frost.