On the eve of the September 13 primary, New York State Republican Senator John Bonacic is urging Democrats to write in his name on their party’s ballot.
The senator is already assured of the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines on the November ballot but he wants to take no chances. If he succeeds in getting his name on the Democratic line as well, he will not face an opponent in the general election.
Bonancic has held same Senate seat for nearly two decades and has a history to bullying his opponents out of the race.
“Voters are entitled to a choice on Election Day,” says Democrat Pramilla Malick, the senate candidate endorsed by the Democratic committees of Delaware, Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties. She terms the letter from her Republican opponent, “nothing less than an attempt to short circuit the democratic process.”
Malick called Bonacic’s letter “misleading in the extreme,” because it fails to identify himself as a Republican. The letter also gives the false impression that the senator is a strong environmentalist. In fact, Environmental Advocates of New York, a not-for-profit organization that monitors the voting records of elected officials, recently gave Bonacic a score of 57, the lowest environmental grade received by any member of the New York State Senate.
Malick, a mother of four, made a name for herself by taking the lead in opposing the siting dangerous and polluting fracked gas infrastructure in residential neighborhoods.