Greece Supervisor-elect Jeff McCann’s historic win this week — breaking a century-long drought for Democrats in the town’s top office — was unusual for another reason.
That’s because McCann ran on both the Democrat and Conservative party ballot lines, and was endorsed by both.
The latter is a right wing third party, aligned heavily with President Donald Trump, which defines its mission as “to match our previous successes against liberalism, so as to prevent progressives from obliterating the institutions, spirit, and beliefs that make our country a beacon to the world.” That stance makes the Democrats and Conservatives ideologically opposed, and a candidate running on both to be an oxymoron.
Yet, there was McCann, cross-endorsed to lead Monroe County’s largest suburb. And he was not alone. Sheriff Todd Baxter also straddled the Conservative-Democrat ballot lines this year in his successful bid for re-election.
This proved too much for Richard Bianchi, a 40-year member of the county’s Conservative Party executive board. He resigned from the party in the fall, citing a deviation from the party’s values.
He first became concerned four years ago, he said, when the Conservative Party declined to endorse Republican Rory Fitzpatrick in the race for Irondequoit town supervisor. Fitzpatrick won that race against Democrat Joe Morelle Jr, the son of Democratic Congressman Joe Morelle.
“It was just not right,” Bianchi said. “Rory Fitzpatrick was a great candidate, and as a matter of fact, he won without the Conservative nod. That was my concern.”
In this year’s race, Bianchi said it made no sense for the party to endorse McCann over his challenger, Republican William Murphy. The current town councilmember, retired police officer and former Holley police chief had received the Conservative Party endorsement in four consecutive races, beginning with his first run in 2017.
“It’s a fraud,” Bianchi said. “It’s stopping (voters) from voting their values. Usually, they don’t follow politics like I do. They go in and say, ‘Geez, this guy’s a Conservative? I’m going to vote for him.’ When he’s really not a Conservative, he’s a liberal.”
McCann did not return a request for comment. Sheriff Baxter, running unopposed, did not have the Conservative Party endorsement in his previous two runs for office. He did not immediately respond to a message left Wednesday afternoon.
Don Mazzullo, chairman of the Monroe County Conservative Party, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a letter to Conservative Party members, he denied the allegations made by Bianchi, and said the party was choosing the best candidates for office.
“Richard’s argument seems to be we should have endorsed Bill Murphy because we’ve endorsed him in the past,” Mazzullo said. “Yet Jeff McCann was also endorsed by the Monroe County Conservative party four out of four times he ran in the past, all while Richard Bianchi was on the executive committee.”
Those races were when McCann served as a Monroe County legislator, the last of which was in 2011. McCann was an enrolled Republican at the time.
Mazzullo also argued that Bianchi had resigned prior to the party endorsing McCann, making his argument moot.
However, the idea that McCann, who serves as County Executive Adam Bello’s deputy, would run for the seat in Greece on the Conservative line was not unheard of at the time of Bianchi’s resignation.
Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart, D-Rochester, began raising concerns about a deal being struck between Democratic leaders and the Conservative Party in October 2024, when Bello re-appointed Scott Nasca to the board of the Monroe County Water Authority. Nasca is vice chairman of the Conservative Party’s executive leadership team. In all, three of the Water Authority’s seven-member board are officers or on the executive committee of the Conservative Party.
Barnhart argued that those appointments were meant to curry political favor by Democrats for the Conservative endorsement.
“The Conservative Party makes up less than 2% of Monroe County voters and yet have thoroughly infiltrated Democratic governance in this county,” she said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I don’t understand it. I think it’s a very cynical, hypocritical, craven game.”
Last month, Matthew Schwartz, a Conservative Party member, was tapped as the Bello administration’s top lawyer. A county spokesperson denied there was any political motivation that led to the appointment and said it was solely due to Schwartz’s experience in the district attorney’s office.
For Democrats, it’s a strange optic for a candidate to appear on their party line alongside a party line that seems to stand in opposition to all its ideals. Though it can be politically advantageous, as Monroe County Democrats’ chairman Stephen DeVay explained Wednesday on WXXI’s Connections with Evan Dawson.
“We will continue to show that voter advantage, that we can put our message out there without any need for a cross-endorsement,” DeVay said. “Again, fusion voting allows it so it’s probably not the last time we’re going to see a cross-endorsement.”
The Conservative Party line netted McCann 1,709 votes in the election, according to unofficial results – padding a margin of victory that topped 3,100 votes.
