Rome Sentinel

Hennessy speaks out about challenge to independent petitions

BY ALEXIS MANORE Staff writer

Oneida County Executive candidate Michael Hennessy is now facing a challenge to the petitions he filed to run on independent lines.

Hennessy, who attempted to run in the Republican primary but was removed from the ballot by the Oneida County Board of Elections — a decision that was upheld by a county Supreme Court judge — is now aiming to run for county executive on independent lines, under the Term Limit Tax Cut party.

However, an objector has filed a challenge to the signatures Hennessy and his supporters gathered, throwing his independent campaign into uncertainty.

Hennessy spoke out about the challenge, his remaining concerns with the original court case and his appeal during a press conference on Tuesday, June 6.

Independent petitions

On Friday, June 2, Paulette Scheibel, the wife of county legislator Keith Schiebel, filed the challenge to Hennessy’s petitions. She has until Thursday, June 8, to provide the specific objections.

Hennessy said he filed 2,125 signatures for his independent petitions.

“We feel strongly that these are all good signatures,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy claims that Schiebel put the improper date on the form to file an objection. He said that the mistake had been crossed out, but no one had initialed the form to show that a change had been made.

“That’s one of the things [the Board of Elections] talked about us, that we didn’t initial things,” he said. “And yet we felt that we did. … It’s been a double standard.”

If it is determined that Hennessy does not have enough valid independent signatures, he could be removed from the ballot yet again. While he is still waiting on the appeal of his case, Republican primary ballots have been printed without Hennessy on them, and absentee ballots have already been sent out to voters.

Case concerns

Hennessy is claiming that Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. illegally interfered with the county Board of Elections’ review and subsequent decision to invalidate over 500 signatures on his Republican designating petitions, ultimately leading to his removal from the Republican primary ballot.

He said that his campaign is sending a letter to the New York Attorney General Letitia James, calling for her to investigate Picente’s office and the Board of Elections.

“What kind of communications have been back and forth, is it legal or illegal for the county executive to make these choices about if the Board of Elections should or shouldn’t allow me on the ballot, his involvement, we’re going to be looking at it,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy did not share any other claims about Picente’s involvement in the Board of Elections because, he said, a lawyer needed to review the letter before he disclosed its full contents.

He added that he is already in contact with the New York State Board of Elections in regard to this and the independent petitions.

“Mike Hennessy continues to build a campaign of lies and accusations based on an alternate reality of conspiracy theories and delusional thought, just like he has every other time he has run for office,” Picente said in a statement. “The simple truth is that the people of Oneida County see through these political games. My results as county executive speak for themselves. We will continue the great work we have accomplished through strong, effective leadership with the temperament to continue moving us forward.”

The Oneida County Board of Elections has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Appeal

Hennessy said his team is still waiting for an appellate court to make a decision about the appeal that is aiming to get him back on the Republican ballot.

He voiced his disappointment with the lack of choice that voters will have in the primary elections.

“I’m not too upset about all of this, it comes with the territory when you run against Tony Picente,” Hennessy said.

“This is a cabal that I’m facing. It’s very difficult in Oneida County to beat the insider game,” he added.

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2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

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