Albany – 7-30-2008

Congressional Candidate Steven Vasquez (R-21) defeated James Buhrmaster today in Court. Buhrmaster had sued to knock Vasquez off the ballot. The result of this win is that both candidates will face off in a September primary.

Vasquez thanked his volunteers for their effort: "We went up against one of the best election lawyers in New York. Our campaign volunteers did such a good job in the petition process that it wasn't even close."

The two sides appeared in Albany County Supreme Court Wednesday morning for a hearing. Three Vasquez volunteers testified first about signatures they had gathered. Buhrmaster's attorney, Tom Marcelle, then proceeded to go through the Buhrmaster objections one by one through a witness. Over the course of this Marcelle occasionally withdrew objections. At roughly 6:15 pm, with a long way to go, there were 55 withdrawals. Vasquez needed to win 62 of the 452 objections.

Marcelle then asked Judge Roger McDonough to rule on a group of 9 outstanding objections where the signature had listed both the names of a hamlet and a town (e.g. Glenmont Bethlehem … or Loudonville Colonie). The Judge ruled in favor of Vasquez on those objections, bringing the total to 64 – enough to keep Vasquez on the ballot. At that point the Buhrmaster team conceded defeat, and waived appeal.

Albany Attorney Warren Redlich, who is also Vasquez' campaign spokesman, represented Vasquez pro bono. Redlich criticized Buhrmaster for bringing the suit. "He's supposed to be a Republican. But he filed a frivolous lawsuit, wasting both taxpayer money and his own campaign money, all in an effort to keep Republican voters from having a choice. Buhrmaster owes the voters an apology."