Portelli’s NY-19 Candidacy At Risk After BOE Petition Review

Longshot Candidate Makes Flurry of Accusations

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZELCHERRY VALLEY

Alexander Portelli may not appear on the June Republican primary ballot for New York’s 19th Congressional District. Pending further hearings, the New York State Board of Elections has found enough invalid ballot petition signatures to prevent him from meeting the 1,250 signature threshold.

The longshot candidate is hoping to beat state Senator Peter Oberacker to face incumbent Representative Josh Riley, a Democrat, in November. Allegations of fraud from a Valatie, New York resident, Olivia Clemente, have also threatened his plans. Portelli denies the accusations. Staff at the NYSBOE invalidated 387 of Portelli’s 1,609 signatures following Clemente’s objections.

State law requires that the NYSBOE finalize the ballot by April 29. Hearings for candidate petitions are being held this week, with NYSBOE commissioners making final determinations next week. Unless Portelli is able to restore enough signatures to make up the gap, he will not be eligible to appear on the ballot.

On April 9, Clemente filed a general objection, the first step before detailing specific complaints. In response, Portelli claimed on Facebook that “The seditious Governor Kathy Hochul will use her minions to do all she can to stop this campaign, but we are ready to fight them to get this message to go to the voters.”

Portelli’s post included a photo first posted to social media last October by the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District–where Clemente is executive director–of Clemente and Gov. Hochul at a local business. The caption for the organization’s post thanks Hochul for supporting the City of Troy’s downtown.

Asked by AllOtsego whether he had any further evidence that Hochul was behind the petition challenge, Portelli replied that he did not know who Clemente was and he “couldn’t say it was done on behalf of Hochul.” Asked why he would make the post then, Portelli wrote, “Ya I should clarify” and that he would make a new post.

Portelli’s new April 10 post, without naming Clemente, alleged that she was filing objections “on behalf of the Republican establishment, as they are upset that we have to have a primary, like usual” and criticized the petitioning process as unnecessarily arduous. He said he originally concluded Hochul was involved because his campaign frequently criticizes her. While people have a right to file objections, Portelli wrote, the “notion that a person who chooses to interject themselves in a public election, and file legal paperwork that have ramifications in that election, is somehow immune from criticism for those actions, is ridiculous.”