16-04-2025
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.'
