The deadline for filing petitions to get their names on the ballot is here, and most of the seven hopefuls vying for the chance to replace Anthony Seminerio in the Assembly’s 38th district are confident they will qualify.
One however, 23-year-old Paul Gagliardotto, who entered the campaign by email on Tuesday, June 30, bowed out the same way, by an email on Wednesday, July 15. The terse, two-sentence communiqué did not give a reason, but did leave the door open for the Queens College student to venture into the public arena in the future.
Two candidates are virtually assured of being at the finish in November.
Donna Marie Catalbiano has been endorsed by the Queens Republicans and GOP County Chair Phil Ragusa said he is taking no chances when it comes to having sufficient petition signatures for her to be on the ballot.
Mike Miller, a registered Democrat, was endorsed by the Queens Conservative Party; the small number of signatures required for him to appear on the ballot as a Conservative was “no problem” according to Thomas Long, Queens Conservative chair.
That’s not enough for Miller, who wants the Democratic line also. To compete in the September primary, he, along with other Democratic hopefuls, will need 500 signatures acceptable to the Board of Elections, after any challenges.
“I’ll be filing a sufficient number of signatures,” he predicted on Monday, July 13. Taking into account a popular rule-of-thumb that candidates need to file two to three times as many petition signatures as required to withstand any challenges, Miller said, “I’ve got plenty of signatures.”
With over 32,000 registered Democrats in the district, there are certainly enough to petition every declared Democrat onto the ballot, and confidence is running high.
On Monday evening, Lourdes Ventura, a staff member for State Senator Malcolm Smith and the lone woman in the Democratic hunt, sounded confident. “We’re still collecting signatures and doing well – we’re reaching for more than double [the required number] and the contributions are coming in,” she said.
Civic Activist Nick Comaianni sounded even more confident when he spoke to The Courier on Tuesday.
“I’m good,” he declared. “I can take a challenge.” Comaianni insisted that, “I’m not going to challenge signatures – I’d rather that the people get a chance to speak rather than the lawyers,” he said.
Albert Baldeo, who said he already has $160,000 in his political war chest, was supremely confident when he spoke to The Courier on Monday.
“The response has been overwhelming,” he said, hinting that he had approximately 2,000 signatures, which would be four times the required number. “We are far in excess of the required number,” he said, “It’s very encouraging.”
The deadline to file with the Board of Elections is Thursday, July 16.
