State Supreme Court Justice Robert Ross Tuesday reserved decision on a Republican challenge to a Conservative party candidate in Nassau Legis. John Ciotti’s North Valley Stream district.
Imtiaz Insanally, a Democrat turned Republican who now works for the GOP at the county board of elections, filed suit against Harold Barberi, who filed nominating petitions to run as the Conservative party candidate against Ciotti.
Although the Conservative Party endorsed Ciotti, the Republican incumbent lost the line because the party did not file enough valid signatures on his behalf.
Insanally asked Ross to throw out Barberi’s petitions because Barberi admitted to Newsday that he was a “shill” for the Democratic Party. Barberi is a former Democrat who changed his registration to Conservative last year and listed Democratic lawyer Steven Schlesinger as the contact person on his petitions. If Barberi is the Conservative candidate, he would be expected to draw votes from Ciotti, who has run on both the Conservative and Republican ballot lines in the past.
Admitting to being a shill “may constitute a fraud upon the voters and would justify striking his name from the ballot,” Insanally’s lawsuit charged.
But in court Tuesday, Ross questioned why a Republican party member was objecting to Barberi and not a Conservative party member, an observer said. Ross indicated he would issue a written opinion no later than Aug. 16.
Celeste Hadrick