Ousted from primary ballot by a single signature, Mongielo questions elections board ethics
'Removed.'
That was the final determination at the close of the Monday hearing at the Niagara County Board of Elections where Lockport auto repair shop owner Dave Mongielo learned his bid to secure a spot on this year's primary ballot as a Republican Party candidate in the Niagara County Legislature's 12th District failed by one signature.
Mongielo submitted designating petitions signed by 218 people. He needed the Board of Elections to validate 75 of them to quality.
At the end of the hearing, the county's two election commissioners, Democrat Lora Allen and Republican Jennifer Sandonato, determined only 74 should count.
'I think it's rigged,' Mongielo said in an interview following the hearing.
Allen and Sandonato, who are appointed by members of the political committees representing their respective parties, are tasked with validating signatures on petitions. Both must agree before petitions can be legally certified.
Mongielo contends they have a vested interest in keeping him off the ballot because the parties that gave them their jobs have also endorsed candidates in the same race he's trying to run in.
County Democrats endorsed incumbent 12th district legislator Carla Speranza while county Republicans and Conservatives are backing former legislator Will Collins. Speranza defeated Collins in the 2023 election.
'It's huge conflict,' Mongielo said. 'The Democrats have a Democratic candidate against me so they don't want me to run because they know their candidate already beat Will Collins. And, of course, the Republicans don't want me to run against Collins and they don't want me because I always ask them questions they don't want to answer.'
Sandonato and her husband, Vince, who was appointed by the legislature as the county's Medicaid fraud specialist earlier this year, have both made campaign contributions to the local Republican party and various GOP candidates, including current county lawmakers, in recent years. Records on file with the state board of elections show the Sandonatos have also received campaign funds from the local GOP and candidates for services they provided to the committees that related to fundraising and other activities.
Records show in April 2024 Jennifer Sandonato received $395 from the Niagara County Republican Committee for what's listed as 'office' 'expenditures/payments.' In January, she received $106 for reimbursement of postage for fundraising expenses from the Niagara County Conservative Party.
While Allen has far fewer instances of donating to local Democrats, state elections board records show she made a $50 donation to Jeffrey Elder, a Democratic county legislator from Niagara Falls who ran for state assembly last year.
Both county and state elections officials say there are no regulations or laws barring election commissioners or other board representatives from donating or receiving campaign funds.
Niagara County Public Information Officer Kevin Schuler said the county cannot prohibit election board representatives from making 'personal political choices.' A spokesperson for the state board of elections agreed.
Schuler noted that, by virtue of the manner in which they are appointed to their positions by the county Democratic and Republican committees, both Allen and Sandonato are 'inextricably tied' to their respective party. However, county officials stressed that does not mean they do not follow the proper procedures and elections law when determining the validity of a candidate's petitions.
'County employees do not give up their right to support candidates of their choice, including financially. All county (boards of election) operate under these rules. They only prohibition is doing campaign work on county time,' Schuler said.
Allen said in her 23 years working for the board of elections, she has always based her decisions on what she thinks is right, not on what candidate or party affiliation may be involved.
'I've never ever done anything because a process was rigged,' she said.
Niagara County Attorney Claude Joerg also attended Monday's hearing. He too is appointed by the legislature majority, which has for years been held by Republicans, and has a lengthy list of campaign donations to various local candidates, including a $100 donation last October to Irene Meyers, the legislature's 1st district representative from Lewiston who has been endorsed for reelection by the GOP this year.
Joerg does not have a say in deciding the validity of signatures on petitions but he does regularly attend board of elections hearings as the county's legal counsel.
'The county attorney's role at the proceeding conducted at the Niagara County Board of Elections (Monday) morning was to observe the process,' Schuler said. 'In no manner did the county attorney rule on the validity of such petitions, rather the county attorney attempted to keep the proceedings focused on the petitions, rather than personal attacks by Mr. Mongielo.'
County officials noted that Mongielo freely admitted during Monday's hearing that he agreed, in excess of 40 of the signatures he obtained were improper. County officials also noted that he recommended the hearing be limited to discussion about just two signatures that he maintained were valid despite the ruling of the board.
'It was at the county attorney's direction that the Niagara County Board of Elections conducted a review of all objections, including the in excess of 40 that (Mongielo) admitted were invalid,' Schuler said.
County officials say if Mongielo or anyone else has an issue with how they validate petition signatures, they are welcome to challenge their rulings in court.
'Elections decisions on petitions must be unanimous between the commissioners,' Schuler said. 'This is the check and balance in the system.'
Kathleen McGrath, director of public relations for the New York State Board of Elections, concurred.
'Petition review is always conducted in a bipartisan fashion, so a single individual would not be making unilateral decisions,' she said.
Mongielo said one of the two voter signatures that were disallowed had a stray mark next to the person's address, which both commissioners determined invalidated it as an accurate address. He now plans to to obtain affidavits from both voters to demonstrate to the elections board their signatures were legally obtained at valid addresses.
'Basically, a crime syndicate runs Niagara County government,' he said. 'The political machine has made it almost impossible for regular people to run for office now. The political machine has made it so that they ensure their candidates get the endorsements and their candidates win the elections. There are substantial conflicts of interest with their official duties. They can't use petitions to secure unwarranted privileges. Administrative hearing procedures require board of elections to ensure fairness and transparency. That's not what's happening here.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
35 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Search Broadens as Investigators Race to Track Down Minnesota Suspect
EDITORS NOTE: EDS: SUBS 2nd graf to update with possible found vehicle; TWEAKS graf 3 and graf starting "-- The suspect: ..." Investigators expanded their search across Minnesota on Sunday as they raced to track the footsteps of a man suspected of assassinating a Democratic state lawmaker and trying to kill a second. Police found what they believe is a vehicle belonging to the suspect, Vance Boelter, 57, in Sibley County, near a listed address for him and about an hour's drive southwest of where Saturday's shootings occurred. Officials have pleaded for help from the public, offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Boelter's arrest. At the same time they urged caution, saying that he was believed to be armed, dangerous and willing to kill. "He is someone that no one should mess with, except for law enforcement," Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press." Communities were on edge around the Minneapolis suburbs where authorities say the suspect went to the homes of two lawmakers early Saturday, pretending to be a police officer. Wearing a ballistic vest, gloves and an identity-disguising mask, investigators say he killed Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. The police almost caught the suspect at the home, but he escaped on foot after exchanging gunfire with officers. State Sen. John A. Hoffman, a fellow Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were also shot in a separate attack but survived. Klobuchar said Sunday that the couple was "hanging in there." Hoffman, she said, "may face some additional surgeries, but he is also in stable condition right now, from what I know." Investigators have been examining surveillance footage, bank records, Boelter's associations and his movements from before the shootings. He had been politically engaged: A friend said he opposed abortion and had supported President Donald Trump, and he previously served on a state workforce development board alongside Hoffman. Here's what else we know: -- The victims: Hortman served as speaker of the Minnesota House for a six-year period that ended this year and helped pass several key policies on abortion rights, marijuana legalization and medical leave. Hoffman is a fourth-term state senator from Champlin, another Minneapolis suburb, and leads the Senate's Human Services Committee. -- The suspect: Boelter and his wife run a private security company that promotes the usage of SUVs similar to those used by police departments, according to its website. The couple also appears to have run a religious nonprofit. An archived version of the organization's website described Boelter as an ordained minister who had preached overseas. It said that he "sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer." -- Political violence: Slowly but surely, violence has moved from the fringes to become part of the political landscape. Threats and even assassinations, attempted or successful, have become a steady undercurrent of American life. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith contemplates increased security after shooting of Democratic lawmakers
Advertisement 'These are real people, and before you start ascribing motives or going after them online maybe you should think about Melissa Hortman's life,' Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on CNN. 'This is a person that did everything for the right reasons. Regardless of political parties, look at her face before you send out your next post.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The attack that killed Hortman, her husband Mark and gravely wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife was a nightmare scenario for the thousands of American who serve as legislators across the 50 states and in Washington. They routinely attend public events with little or no security screening and live with their families in communities torn by the nation's political divides. The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information on the suspect, Vance Boelter, 57, who was the subject of a massive manhunt Sunday. The attacks amid a recent flurry of political violence that appears to be coming from all ideological corners. Advertisement U.S. Capitol Police increased security for Klobuchar and Smith following the attacks, which occurred early Saturday morning. Minnesota's entire congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, released a joint statement condemning the killings. 'Today we speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief, and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants,' the statement said. 'There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence.' 'Nothing brings us together more than, you know, mourning for somebody else who's in political life,' GOP Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said on NBC. 'Republican or Democrats. You know, we come together about this.' Paul said that he himself had been the victim of political violence when he was attacked by a neighbor in 2017, as well as at the Republican practice for the Congressional baseball game where a gunman severely injured several people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Associated Press writer Gary Fields contributed reporting.
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith contemplates increased security after shooting of Democratic lawmakers
Lawmakers on Sunday continued to reel from the shooting of two Democratic Minnesota state legislators in their homes that led to the death of one and her husband, contemplating a previously unthinkable world where democratically-elected representatives need full-time security details to protect them from the public. 'I don't want to think that I have to a personal security detail everywhere I go, but I think we really have to look at the situation that we're in,' Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said Sunday on NBC News. 'This is no way for our government to work when people, any number of us, feel this kind of threat.' The state's other U.S. Senator, Amy Klobuchar, directly addressed the increasingly toxic atmosphere around politics as she remembered state Rep. Melissa Hortman , who was killed in the attack. 'These are real people, and before you start ascribing motives or going after them online maybe you should think about Melissa Hortman's life,' Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on CNN. 'This is a person that did everything for the right reasons. Regardless of political parties, look at her face before you send out your next post.' The attack that killed Hortman, her husband Mark and gravely wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife was a nightmare scenario for the thousands of American who serve as legislators across the 50 states and in Washington. They routinely attend public events with little or no security screening and live with their families in communities torn by the nation's political divides. The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information on the suspect, Vance Boelter, 57, who was the subject of a massive manhunt Sunday. The attacks amid a recent flurry of political violence that appears to be coming from all ideological corners. U.S. Capitol Police increased security for Klobuchar and Smith following the attacks, which occurred early Saturday morning. Minnesota's entire congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, released a joint statement condemning the killings. 'Today we speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief, and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants,' the statement said. 'There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence.' 'Nothing brings us together more than, you know, mourning for somebody else who's in political life,' GOP Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said on NBC. 'Republican or Democrats. You know, we come together about this.' Paul said that he himself had been the victim of political violence when he was attacked by a neighbor in 2017, as well as at the Republican practice for the Congressional baseball game where a gunman severely injured several people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Associated Press writer Gary Fields contributed reporting. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
