Letters

Recently, Republican congressional candidate Nick LaLota tweeted that he’d like to “restore integrity to our elections.”

Well, election integrity is important, but relying on Nick LaLota to restore election integrity is like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department.

In 2015, Nick LaLota, then Republican commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections, filed a petition to remove the Women’s Equality Party candidate, Susan Berland, from the ballot by nullifying her certification of nomination.

The judge’s ruling was sharp and to the point: “… the two commissioners constituting the Suffolk County Board of Elections are each directed to forthwith certify and issue 2015 General Election ballots listing the names of each designated candidate of the Women’s Equality Party. The petition is in all respects DENIED.”

Attempting to deny a woman a place on the ballot was both bad form and bad judgment. You might think he would reflect on his role as a Board of Elections commissioner, maybe consider a deep dive into election law and think about what it means to be a fair-minded commissioner.

No, that is not what happened.

In 2020, Nick LaLota ran for New York State Senate — until a state appellate court ruled that the arrangement was an “obvious conflict of interest” and removed him from the ballot. The conflicting “arrangement” was Mr. LaLota’s contention that he could still maintain his $152,900 position on the Suffolk County Board of Elections while running for New York State Senate.

In his world, Commissioner LaLota gets to make decisions for candidate LaLota. We should all have it so good.

Mr. LaLota lacks judgment and does not respect the law, at least not election law.

On November 8, let’s elect a candidate who consistently demonstrates good judgment and who respects the law — former prosecutor Bridget Fleming.

Mike Anthony

Westhampton

Mr. Anthony is a former Southampton Town Democratic Committee chairman — Ed.