Kathryn Walker will not appear on the Democratic primary ballot for Irondequoit Town Board having agreed to withdraw, facing allegations of filing fraudulent petitions.
Walker made the announcement Tuesday evening, resolving a court case brought by Joe Morelle Jr., chairman of the Irondequoit Democratic Committee and son of Congressman Joe Morelle. As part of his complaint, nine people whose names were on Walker’s petitions signed sworn statements that they either had not signed the petition or had signed other people’s names as well.
The agreement made in court would invalidate the petitions gathered by Walker, and the Monroe County Board of Elections would remove her name from the ballot.
Morelle Jr. had claimed almost half of the nearly 800 signatures Walker gathered were invalid, and nearly 100 were considered fraudulent. In order to get on the ballot, Walker had to gather 500 signatures from registered Democrats living in Irondequoit.
In a statement, Walker maintained there was no wrongdoing.
“I was given a choice: if I withdrew, the matter would end; if I continued, the matter would potentially be referred for criminal investigation,” Walker wrote. “I could not put my family or volunteers through a legal fight that would take up the duration of the primary election, so I made the gut-wrenching decision to resolve the case and withdraw my petitions.”
“I want to be very clear: there was no ruling that our petitions were fraudulent,” she continued. “That question was never decided by a court. My campaign was honorable and ethical.”
Walker challenged Ryan Trevas, a candidate who was endorsed by the Irondequoit Democratic Committee. Trevas was nominated for the endorsement by Congressman Morelle.
The court filing from Morelle Jr. raised several standard objections in signature gathering, including signatures from people who weren’t registered Democrats, and whether those passing petitions witnessed the signing.
But he also alleged dozens of signatures were fraudulent.
“Line after line, there are names — either purportedly signed or hand printed — that to the plain eye of the reader can be identified as the same handwriting as seen elsewhere on the page or in the volume,” Morelle Jr. wrote in his objection letter.
Walker and her allies have alleged that the legal challenge was a tool of powerful political machinations to crush dissent, rather than a good faith attempt to uphold the integrity of the Democratic process.
“People from across the community have come together because they are sick of the status quo and insider games that trickle down to hurt everyday people,” Walker wrote. “This experience says something bigger about how our system works, especially for people who are not backed by established political power.”
