Thursday, 8/5/10, 6:45pm. First on the list - the NYS Board of Elections has rejected Janice Volk’s petition to be listed on the Republican Party line and force a primary with Tom Reed. A rejection confirmed at a Thursday meeting of the full board. A BOE spokesman explains that the Volk campaign submitted 1,330 signatures (note: that differs from the 1,436 signatures that her campaign manager told me about 2 weeks ago?) and that 203 were found to be invalid. That leaves her with 1,127 which is below the 1,250 threshold.
The next move is up to Volk, she and her campaign can choose to legally challenge the BOE’s decision. Volk’s campaign spokesman Joseph Bassage tells me that’s something the campaign is assessing now and a decision is expected on Friday. He goes on to say that the Tea Party Coalition has expressed interest in her campaign; perhaps a 3rd party line is achievable? I’m told that takes 3,500 signatures. Even with Tea Party Coalition members helping that’s a tall task for a team that fell short of a 1,250 goal.
Second on my list of notes - money. The Volk Campaign insists it is running a “fiscally conservative” campaign for Congress. While admirable and a creative play on words, the reality is that it does actually take some money (and thus fundraising) to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. So I asked Bassage to explain if there is a plan fund this campaign and I’ll let his answer do the talking for you:
"We understand it takes money to run a campaign. We have an action plan to raise money fast. We do not need an extensive war chest to win this race. The fiscal conservative component of this campaign is what really has hit home with NY-29 residents."
Lastly – the latest on the “racism & sexism discussion.” For the record, last week I had what I believe to be an educational exchange with Volk’s campaign manager Terry Cary on this topic. I then invited him to have the “final word” on this issue; a sort of blank canvass of ideas, thoughts, and explanations that would be its own blog posting on this website. I even specifically invited him to attack my reporting on this should he wish to. I’d post it unedited on this site.
Apparently I’m told by Bassage that Cary’s response is instead a press release sent to many media outlets on Friday addressing this topic. It took a few days for me to determine that that was indeed his response and “final word” so-to-speak on the issue. I’ve attached that statement, unedited, to this blog. (Sorry, you don’t get a free blog post if you send out a press release to everyone Mr. Cary!)
I’m also attaching some Conservative Pledge that the Volk campaign is sending out. Best I can tell this is simply a pledge the campaign has come up with on their own, not one that other candidates are asked to subscribe to.
To the credit of Volk’s campaign they appear many times more interesting than listening to the crickets of Reed & Zeller’s campaigns.
