The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court last week awarded 4th Congressional District (C.D.) candidates Steve Irace and Marilyn O'Grady, both of Garden City, the right to keep their names on the Sept. 10 Republican primary ballot. The 4 to 1 decision is the result of an appeal set forth by both Irace and O'Grady late last month after opponent Daniel Frisa of Salisbury challenged their nominating petitions.

Frisa, a former state assemblyman and member of the House who lost his seat to current Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) in 1996, argued that neither Irace nor O'Grady secured the necessary number of signatures to remain on the ballot. (See Republican Race for 4th C.D. in Question: Candidates Take Legal Action Against Opponent, The Westbury Times, Aug. 29.)

The Appellate Court heard Irace's and O'Grady's case on Tuesday, Aug. 27. A decision was made the following afternoon. At that time, Frisa appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals on the grounds that the Appellate Division was wrong on the law. "They quoted cases in their decision that don't apply," Frisa said. "We have to make that case to the Court of Appeals."

He added, "[The Court of Appeals] has to agree to hear it. It is kind of like the United States Supreme Court where they have to give permission. If they grant permission, we think they will side with us because of the faulty ruling in the Appeals court. That's what the lawyers tell me ... At the same time, we've got 11 days before the primary and we are all systems go. We haven't taken our eye off the people who are most important in the process."

In the case of the 4th C.D., the signature requirement is 1,250 names and a valid signature must be that of a registered Republican living within the district. While Frisa, Irace, O'Grady and Skorski exceeded the required number of signatures, a closer look at the petitions by Frisa's attorney found that not all the signatures on Irace's, O'Grady's and Skorski's petitions were valid because some were not registered Republicans within the 4th C.D. One invalid signature on a page or a correction made to one item on a page voided out the entire page, therefore significantly decreasing the actual number of signatures each candidate had.

Irace, however, said that Frisa's argument was null and void since Frisa himself made the same mistakes. "His failure rate, to the extent I reviewed them and I really did not review them all, but his failure rate was about 30 percent on his signatures," he said. "He made the same mistakes we made. They were the honest mistakes of honest people."

Irace added that despite the court's ruling in his favor, there are still some hard feelings. "The agreement was that we would have no dirty tricks, no negative campaigns. I do not think [what Frisa did] was the right thing to do. We are all supposed to be fellow Republicans with a common purpose and fighting among each other isn't part of that common purpose," he said. "The primary is only settled by Republican voters and the voters are the ones who got cheated by these tactics because they did not get to see three weeks of campaign performances by the candidates they are going to have to decide between."

Although he is glad the courts ruled in his favor, Irace said such a decision should never have made it to the courts in the first place. "This was a needless waste of time and energy," he said. "It deprives the voters. Instead of spending the last three weeks with the candidates going to the voters and presenting themselves and their positions, the candidates were in court fighting a legal challenge. Going to the voters is where we all should have been because the voters should make this decision, not the courts."

O'Grady could not be reached for comment.

In addition to Irace's and O'Grady's petitions, Frisa also challenged the petitions by Republican candidate Alan Skorski of West Hempstead. It is possible, however, that Skorski, who did not appeal and instead withdrew from the race, may now seek reinstatement. Frisa also successfully bumped McCarthy from the Liberal line, alleging she did not secure the required number of signatures to remain on the party's ballot. Jack Olchin, chairman of the Liberal Party since 1960, is currently in the process of appealing the Aug. 16 decision by Supreme Court Judge Robert Roberto. (See Liberal Party to Appeal Decision to Remove McCarthy From Ballot, The Westbury Times, Aug. 29.) An appeal is due by mid-September.

If the Court of Appeals hears the case and reverses the Appellate Court's decision, Irace and O'Grady will not be allowed to run and there will not be a Republican primary for the 4th C.D. The Court of Appeals must decide whether or not to hear the case prior to the Sept. 10 primary. As of press time, a decision had not been made.