Republican Senator John Bonacic, of Mount Hope in Orange County, who has held the office of New York State Senate 42nd District for eighteen years is willing to do anything to run unopposed. He has not had a challenge in the last three elections and he was about to go unopposed for yet another term.
But, Pramilla Malick, who is with Protect Orange County and fights against the CPV Valley Energy Center in Wawayanda that is under construction, submitted to the New York State Board of Elections a petition with some 1,600 signatures for the opportunity to ballot.
(The 42nd District includes Sullivan County and parts of Delaware, Orange and Ulster Counties.)
Bonacic and his cronies have made three attempts to usurp the right of 42nd district residents to elect a state senator of their choosing.
The following three attempts are clear proof that Bonacic knows voters will reject him if they have a choice. Here are his three unsuccessful strikes:
- New York state Board of Elections spokesman confirmed Bonacic’s campaign filed a general objection to Malick’s petitions but could not support it the required specific objections.
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Bonacic tried to deceive Democratic voters in his district to stave off unexpected competition for his seat. Bonacic had encouraged voters, including the elderly and infirm, to write in his name on the ballot. In his letters to voters, Bonacic never revealed that he was a Republican or that he was already assured of four lines on the ballot in the general election. If he had succeeded in capturing the Democratic line as well, he would have been the only candidate on the ballot in November. He once again failed as Pramilla Malick obtained over 95% of the valid ballots.
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Bonacic wasn’t going to stop there- Republicans then filed an abusive lawsuit seeking to hijack the democratic process. According to a press release issued by the campaign: “State Supreme Court Judge Gerald W. Connolly dismissed a lawsuit brought by Republican operatives that sought to have Democratic State Senate candidate Pramilla Malick’s name stricken from the ballot. If the suit had been successful, incumbent John Bonacic would not have had to face an opponent on Election Day.”
Malick’s lawyer, Lawrence Mandelkar, termed the lawsuit “abusive.” He believes it was intended to force the Malik campaign to spend money defending itself in court so it wouldn’t have the resources to mount an effective political campaign. (The nine-term incumbent has no such worries; Bonacic has amassed $750,000 in campaign contributions and has not had to face an opponent since 2010.)
“Voters are entitled to a choice when they go to the polls. This is a basic principal of democracy, but it’s not one that Senator Bonacic seems to understand,” charged Ms. Malick. She recalled that in the run up to the Democratic primary, Bonacic sent letters to Democrats urging them to give him their vote. The letters, which targeted the elderly and infirm, did not disclose the fact that Bonacic is a registered Republican, or that he was already guaranteed four other lines on the ballot. If he had succeeded in getting the Democratic line as well, he would have been the sole candidate on the ballot in November. “Voters rejected this crude attempt to short circuit the democratic process, and now the Supreme Court has done the same,” said Malick.
She believes that voters in the 42nd Senate district are entitled to a choice, particularly in light of the unfolding scandal surrounding the CPV power plant under construction in the Orange County town of Wawayanda. Senator Bonacic has been a cheerleader for the project—he even praised the integrity of the corporation that now stands charged with using bribery and extortion to extract special favors from state officials. The senator has not disclosed his contacts with the indicted corporate employees, nor has he disclosed whether or not he had a financial interest in the Bonacic law firm while it was doing business with the scandal-plagued company.
The lawsuit brought against Malick contended that she is not a resident of the 42nd Senate District despite the fact that she and her husband have had a home in the Orange County town of Minisink for the past 16 years. She first became politically engaged five years ago when she led the opposition to the construction of a highly polluting gas compressor station in the midst of her residential neighborhood. “John Bonacic knows perfectly well I’m a Minisink resident,” says Malick. “As a constituent, I’ve been imploring our elected officials to put the interests of Minisink residents above the interests of out-of-state corporations that make generous contributions to our elected officials. My pleas were ignored. That’s why I’m running for office.”