(Lyndon, NY) - Wednesday afternoon, Cattaraugus County
Chairman Frank Puglisi called recent revelations about Congressional candidate
Tracy Mitrano "disqualifying" in her bid to be the Democratic nominee
against Congressman Tom Reed. Puglisi is one of the youngest County Democratic Chairs in
the state of New York. He said he has been watching the race closely since
April 2017, having gone to events in 8 different counties. Puglisi said he
knows all the candidates well, and has no qualms with the other remaining four
candidates.
"Tracy Mitrano is trying to mislead her way through
this primary, plain and simple," Puglisi said. "In my mind, it is
disqualifying to her candidacy."
Puglisi continued:
"For full disclosure, my committee and I have endorsed
Eddie Sundquist - but I urge voters to support any of the other four
candidates. If we want to call out Tom Reed for his abusive tactics, then we as
Democrats must be willing to call out our own for what they have done.
If the truth coming out is something that hurts Ms. Mitrano
- even if she is a Democrat - that doesn't make it any less the truth. She has
created this situation by giving misleading information time and time
again."
Puglisi listed the following reasons:
• Her stance
on outsourcing: A video of Mitrano at the Democratic Rural Conference (DRC) in
Albany in April refusing to take a pledge to fight outsourcing in the 23rd
district can be seen here. Puglisi pointed to that video and evidence that
Mitrano helped craft policy to help companies and universities outsource jobs.
In the same article, Mitrano writes, "I have come to see that crazy ideas
are precisely from where the next generation of job categories and families are
going to emerge."
• Further
comments from Mitrano at the DRC where she suggested the jobs leaving
Wellsville at the Dresser-Rand facility weren't the types of jobs the 23rd
district needed. She argued she considered them 19th-century jobs that were
okay to see go.
• Her
response to a question at a May 9th debate in Mayville, NY. When asked if she
would step away from the Working Families Party endorsement if she were to lose
the June 26 Democratic primary, Mitrano replied, "I will cross that bridge
when I come to it... I'm going to ask you to wait and see what I do," (see
here @ 1:16:05). This directly contradicts what Mitrano said at a February
forum in Ithaca, where she stated, "I want to add one more thing. We have
pledged over and over again in every forum and I want to say it again tonight
but with more detail. We will support whoever wins that primary--as a group. We
will unite this district," (see here @ 1:04:27)
• Mitrano's
willingness to pay staff as contracted individuals instead of employees.
Puglisi stated that this would allow her to get out of paying her fair share of
payroll taxes, and puts more of a burden on her staff.
• Mitrano's
writings shortly before announcing her candidacy, where she openly considers running
as an Independent. Mitrano writes, in an article entitled "Should I Run
for Congress", "On what ticket? I am a registered Democrat, but am
thinking of running as an Independent. The Democratic Party already chose
someone else over me once, so I am not sure I can count on their support."
Beyond these infractions, Puglisi explained that Mitrano's
campaign has already made critical errors that will erase any chance of her
beating Tom Reed in the fall.
Mitrano's campaign already has accumulated one ethics
violation, as she did not turn in a financial disclosure earlier in the year.
After Congressional candidate Eddie Sundquist explained the violation at the
May 9th debate, Mitrano responded "take me to court". Mitrano has
still failed to fully comply with the law, as it requires her to file two
disclosures - one from 2017, and one from 2018.
She falsely reported on her financial disclosure that she received $169 in income from the
University of Massachusetts system last year. As a public employee of the state
of Massachusetts, Mitrano was compensated $172,181 last year - 101782% higher
than she reported.
Lastly, Puglisi points to an article yesterday in the
Jamestown Post-Journal. An excerpt reads:
"Mitrano mentioned she is the only candidate who has
resided in the western, central and eastern areas of the district, making her a
suitable representative of the people she has lived around."
Mitrano has claimed ties to Ithaca & Penn Yan in the
district, but has never lived in the western 3 counties - Chautauqua,
Cattaraugus, or Allegany.
"It's just another lie," said Puglisi.
Just last year, Mitrano wrote "I have lived 35 years in
the area of that district, beginning with graduate school at Binghamton
University in 1981. It might not be Rochester, but it is long enough to be a
part of and care genuinely about it."
So I strongly urge democrats to go out and vote for any of
the other four candidates on June 26, because they are more electable in
November.
