When then N.Y.S. Assembly Member Jerry Nadler decided to challenge
then City Clerk David Dinkins for the Democratic nomination for
Manhattan Borough President, he ruffled more than a few feathers.
Nadler was noted for his determined opposition to mega-development
plans by New York's high-rollers, while Dinkins presented a more
"reasonable" mien. To split Nadler's claim to the votes of the Jewish
community against African-American Dinkins, real estate developer
Abraham Hirshfield bank-rolled an third-candidacy: Seymour Friedman.
Only 5,000 designating petition signatures were required to qualify
for the ballot and Friedman filed over 20,000. Using the resources of
Nadler's political club, we were able to successfully challenge Friedman and
disqualify his petitions.
Some of the objections were technicalities See Jonas v. Velez, 65 N.Y.2d 954 (1985).
Others were more serious.
Using an expert witness, we demonstrated
that 8,000 of the signatures were forgeries. As a result, twelve individuals,
including the director of the Friedman petition effort were indicted
and convicted of various counts of perjury and fraud.
E-Mail: johnklotz@johnklotz.com