Former Mount Vernon Mayor's Name Won't Be On Ballot: Court

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Former Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas’s bid to become the city’s next comptroller may have just quietly run out of gas.

On Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Mary Smith dismissed Thomas’s appeal of a Westchester Board of Elections decision that his nominating petitions were invalid. The ruling means that his name will not appear on the Democratic party primary ballot for comptroller on June 22.

Thomas’s nominating petitions were originally declared invalid by the board of elections based on objections filed by fellow Democrats Norina Clowney and John-Carlo Bautista. Thomas challenged the board’s ruling that he did not have enough nominating signatures to get on the ballot in court.

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“The Board of Elections sustained our objections against Richard Thomas ruling that he did not have enough signatures to get onto the ballot,” Bautista said in an e-mailed statement to Patch announcing the legal victory. “He challenged us and the Board of Elections in court, brought two witnesses as well as one of the objectors.”

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Over a two-day court hearing, Thomas called three witnesses, including those who leveled the initial objections to his nominating petition, and he outlined his case for overturning the board’s decision to keep his name off the ballot. However, on Thursday morning, an attorney representing Bautista asked Justice Smith to dismiss Thomas’s challenge to the election board decision. The judge granted the motion, ruling that Thomas’s appeal be dismissed, in part, because Thomas’s case for overturning the election board decision was not specific enough in its objections.

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