Trying to bully, Stefanik, Stec get nowhere
Clinton County GOP unites behind proper procedures
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It appears Elise Stefanik and her apprentice, Dan Stec, are backing away from trying to boss around the Clinton County Republican Committee.
Their retreat follows a strong public statement from the committee, unanimously backing its chairwoman, Jerika Manning, and condemning the “ongoing campaign of intimidation and bullying” from Stefanik and Stec.
It’s heartening to see that North Country Republican officials have the spirit and spine to stand up for what is right in the face of pressure from an unscrupulous operator.
Stefanik’s pressure campaign was a clumsy one. Her several statements attacking Manning are full of obvious falsehoods and contradictions.
Then there is the anonymous text sent to Clinton County Republicans early last week that included the assertion Manning tried to “rig” the special election for the 115th District Assembly seat to get herself elected. That is contradicted by the reality that Manning has been running all summer for Clinton County clerk.
Stefanik’s top aide, Alex deGrasse, reiterated the rigging story to WAMC reporter Pat Bradley, as if saying it again would make it more convincing.
deGrasse has been working for Stefanik for about nine years, and during that time I’ve had several conversations about him with politicians and political staffers from both parties.
The conversations go like this:
Me: Do you know Alex deGrasse?
Politician: Unfortunately.
deGrasse is the Hyde to Stefanik’s Jekyll, but she’s his boss and responsibility for his behavior is all hers.
deGrasse has accused Manning and the committee’s vice chair, Jeff Luck, of discouraging certain candidates interested in the Republican Party nomination for the special election.
“They smeared a candidate who was a correctional officer and said he would not be considered,” deGrasse told WAMC’s Pat Bradley.
In his way, deGrasse kept his statement vague so if he were accused of talking about someone specific, he could deny it. But the most prominent former correctional officer seeking the nomination is Nathan Locke of North Bangor, (Franklin County).
I talked to Locke on Friday.
“At no time has Jerika Manning discouraged me from running or attempting to run. She has been nothing but helpful to me,” he said.
Stefanik has called him, he said, but she was more inquiring than encouraging. She asked about his finances, among other questions.
“I took these as a fishing expedition to see how I stacked up if, in the event I wasn’t the nominee, that I would support whoever the Republican nominee would be,” he said.
If it’s not him, Locke said, “I will support whoever is best for the district.” Specifically, he said, “whoever I believe has the best interests of corrections officers and police officers at heart.”
Stefanik is pushing for Andrea Dumas, the mayor of Malone. Locke said he knows and likes Dumas, but she wouldn’t be his first choice, even if he were out of the running himself.
The latest statement from Stefanik asserts that she convinced everyone to allow the town Republican committees to take over the nomination process from the Clinton County committee.
“That’s inaccurate,” Manning said, diplomatically.
The process has not been changed. That was confirmed by vote of the executive committee of the Clinton County Republican Committee, which includes the town committee chairpersons.
All Stefanik’s and Stec’s intrusions have accomplished is hardening the determination of the Republicans in Clinton County to continue following the rules.
“I’ve received so many statements of support, not just from Republicans but Democrats, chairs, people watching from afar,” Manning said.
“They told me not to back down, just keep doing what’s right, and not let this political theater that comes from Albany and D.C. come here.”
The rules
I called David Souliere, the Republican Board of Elections commissioner in Clinton County and chairman of the Republican Party for the city of Plattsburgh, to ask whether Manning and Luck are handling the nomination process properly.
Yes, he said.
First, no candidate can be chosen until the 115th Assembly District seat is officially vacant, which won’t happen until Billy Jones officially steps down on Sept. 4 or Sept. 5.
After that, Governor Kathy Hochul will set a date for the special election within a 40- to 50-day window. That means she could schedule the special election for Nov. 4, the same day as the general election.
Stefanik, Stec and anyone else are free to endorse whomever they like, but the Republicans’ nominee is chosen in a weighted vote by the Republican Party chairpersons of Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties.
Jerika Manning will be the decider in that vote, because Clinton County holds 57.1 percent of the weighted vote.
No one can usurp the county chairpersons’ responsibility, he said. That includes a congresswoman who was almost U.N. ambassador.
Unity and disunity
The Clinton County Republican Committee posted this to Facebook late last week, following the meeting of its executive committee:
Statement from the Clinton County Republican Committee
Last night, the Clinton County Republican Executive Committee convened to address the current situation regarding the 115th Assembly race and the ongoing campaign of intimidation and bullying.
Despite receiving threatening calls from some of the highest-ranking Republican officials in our district, our Chairwoman received unanimous support through a formal vote of confidence (see attached).
It is deeply concerning that Congresswoman Elise Stefanik continues to make daily calls to committee members, community members, and candidates in an effort to distort the facts and influence the process in order to handpick her candidate.
Chairwoman Jerika Manning, and the Clinton County Republican Committee will continue the process as defined by law — as was our intention from the very beginning.
Attached was this:
Luck’s powerful words
Jeff Luck, vice chairman of the Clinton County Republican Committee, described himself as, until this week, a strong supporter of Elise Stefanik and Dan Stec.
“I’ve always been a big supporter of Dan. This is really difficult for me to make the statement I did. But I I had to do this,” he said.
I asked if he had heard recently from Stec or Stefanik.
“I haven’t heard from Dan nor Elise. I probably won’t hear from either of them again,” he said.
Here is Luck’s statement, posted last week to Facebook:
“I stress that this statement comes from me personally and does not necessarily represent that of the Clinton County Republican Committee as a whole.
“I must fully agree with Chairwoman Jerika Manning’s most recent statement regarding the 115th Assembly District special election. The recent moves by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and State Senator Dan Stec to endorse a Republican candidate prior to the completed process violates both state statute and Republican bylaws.
“As stated by Chairwoman Manning, in a special election, the Clinton, Franklin, and Essex County chairs have the sole responsibility to vet and appoint a candidate from each of the parties. The Republicans had already begun the process of interviewing and had two more extremely qualified candidates ready to be introduced.
“By law, a candidate cannot be voted on until the date of the actual resignation of Billy Jones. This was announced by Mr. Jones in late August or early September, so we thought we had plenty of time. Congresswoman Stefanik and Senator Stec endorsed Andrea Dumas only 9 days after the Jones announcement, without warning or a request to us if we had other candidates.
“Andrea Dumas is a very strong candidate, but they removed from the county committee members any other potential choices that were lined up in the process. Worse, they began an immediate bullying campaign for us to concede the process and remove the freedom of Clinton County Republicans to express their voices. We declined.
“Multiple phone calls from Elise became more unprofessional, disrespectful, condescending, threatening, manipulative, vindictive, delusional, and, frankly, untruthful.
“The last phone call we had from Mr. Stec was much the same. They informed us that they were the only two people capable of making the right choice and we were simply falling in line.
“Ms. Stefanik clearly stated that she would ensure Jerika lost her clerk race as well as her position as committee chair. Since we refused to bow to the pressure, she tried to work from the inside to try and take Jerika down. When she realized she had no play there, she issued that astonishing public statement.
“I am personally outraged, mortified and embarrassed that anyone in public service could conceive of issuing such a public tantrum, and that either of these people claim to be representing the best interests of Clinton County. If either of them lived here or visited more often, they would understand that we value our civility and freedom of choice and that of our neighbors in Clinton County, regardless of political affiliation. Jerika Manning is clearly standing up for all the residents of the county.
“In defense of Jerika Manning’s term as chairwoman, each of these statistics are true since she has taken over the reins:
The county legislature has not lost a Republican seat.
About 11 of the 15 towns in the county are run by Republican supervisors.
We have flipped around five town councils to a Republican majority.
The registered voters have dropped from a Democrat majority of 3,100 to about 600 voters, and the remaining majority are largely in the city of Plattsburgh.
In 2024, the Republican presidential candidate won Clinton County for the first time in 32 years.
The county committee has hugely expanded and become way more active than under the past couple of chairs.
Our political fund has grown from near bankruptcy to almost 40 times its previous value under the past couple of chairs.
“Elise will tell you that this is a result of her work, but it is very difficult to accomplish any of this when your own chief aide stated to us that they “don’t give a ____ about Clinton County.”
“To me, the most disrespectful thing Ms. Stefanik could have done in her entire career is to invoke the name of the late, beloved 30-year-old county Clerk John Zurlo in an attempt to accomplish this dirty political assassination attempt. This cut deeply to the bone.
“Jerika Manning loved that man like a father and remains extremely close to the family. Indeed, John Zurlo had so much confidence in Jerika’s ability he made it clearly known to everyone that she was his hand-picked successor for the position of Clinton County clerk. Ms. Stefanik might have realized this if she had bothered to show up.
“The Clinton County Republican Committee intends to fully complete the state requirement to offer a candidate for the 115th Assembly District special election without the interference of both Congresswoman Stefanik and State Senator Dan Stec. This will happen in as timely a manner as possible, and an announcement will be made at that time.
“I fully expect to be attacked in as many ways as it can possibly happen, but that is of no consequence to me. Everything I have stated is truthful, I have no reason to create an untruth.
“I am a near 71-year-old retired man that cannot stand to see such blatant injustice, and I have lived as good a life as I could. I was raised to always try to do what is right and at least get a good night’s sleep. This is absolutely the right thing to do.
“Jerika Manning is a good, decent, extraordinary human being who cares deeply about serving, and this community is blessed to have her. The people of this county deserve so much more than what our current representation is giving us, and we must insist on electing leaders who truly care about the people they serve.
“In a constitutional republic they work for us, but it appears Stefanik and Stec have forgotten this. They are not worthy of our vote, regardless of party affiliation. I am not happy that this has happened, but it finally exposes the ugly side of politics, and it may perhaps encourage us all to be better human beings. That can only benefit my good friends and neighbors in Clinton County.”
Jeff Luck
Poem
Here is a poem from Hudson Falls poet Richard Carella:
Grave-Sight
I dream catastrophes; loved ones dying;
my own death;
the world, itself– as after some unspeakable
apocalypse,
a sea of headstones; whose monotony is broken
only by a sprawling mausoleum’s
stretching off, obliquely,
toward oblivion...
and me: (as if) adrift in them.
Moth or butterfly
I don’t know if this is a moth or a butterfly, but it is beautiful, nestling into the grooves of a pitch pine tree in Cole’s Woods last week.
Bravo to my colleague Will Doolittle for sticking with this story and reporting this political backstory. It is so important for every voter to understand these are the type of people they are voting for. I urge all of you to share a link on your social media.
WOW…Jeff Luck’s commentary is a true Profile in Courage!
Though Stec/Stefanik may never read or heed it, it’s enough to know Mr. Luck’s message will be read and hopefully heeded by North Country county Republican and DEMS alike… to remind them what moral and political integrity looks and sounds like…despite this era of democratic decay.
Thanks, Will, for this research, and reporting and exposing the pathology that plagues so many levels of local/federal politics…and shining light into the darkest places of sick strategies. A rebellion within the Republican ranks may be our best hope of restoring true law and order within both parties in the days ahead.