Yesterday, a judge ruled that Kathy Konst cannot run on a second, minor party line this November.

Kathy Konst’s minority party candidacy in her race against State Sen. Dale M. Volker was invalidated Tuesday by State Supreme Court Justice Timothy J. Drury, who upheld Volker’s challenge to Konst’s nominating petitions.

The judge found that Konst’s Integrity Party petitions had 2,838 valid signatures, short of the required 3,000.

This isn’t going to influence the race one way or another, but I think this proves that electoral fusion is largely a distraction to political races.

A more serious problem for Konst is the revelation of evidence that she voted in Florida and in New York back in 1998.

Kathy Konst, the Democratic county legislator from Lancaster challenging incumbent Republican Dale M. Volker for the State Senate, voted on Election Day in Florida and New York in 1998, according to documents obtained by the Republican Senate Campaign Committee.

Federal prosecutors confirm that falsely reporting the place and period of residence for voting in a federal election violates federal law and constitutes a felony. But they also say the statute of limitations for any offense committed in 1998 expired five years ago.

Konst, however, vehemently denies the charges. She said she did not live in Florida in 1998 and claims the documents are “doctored.”

“It’s absolutely impossible,” she said. “I moved from there in 1992. It’s absurd. I swear on a stack of Bibles.”

While Konst may not be prosecuted, the charge is likely to become a major issue in the hotly contested election.

Officials of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office confirmed for The Buffalo News that Konst voted at the polls in the Nov. 3, 1998, general election at polling place 407 in West Palm Beach.

Erie County records, meanwhile, also show her voting at the polls on the same day in Lancaster.

This potentially could be a big problem for her, but then again, if Sam Hoyt can win a primary despite his exposed affairs with interns I doubt that Konst committing a felony will severely hurt her standing among Democrats in the general election.

Could Konst have been the victim of fraud? Perhaps… but depending on much this is pursued, it certainly makes me concerned about the integrity of voting down in Florida — a battleground state — when a Democrat who is no longer a resident somehow manages to cast a vote. If Konst did not vote herself in both Florida and New York, then the real issue is how was a vote cast for her, and what other non-resident Democrats have managed somehow to cast illegal votes in the Sunshine State.

I think a federal investigation is in order here. Konst may be innocent, but the Democratic Party in Florida may be guilty of massive voter fraud.

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Looks like Sam Hoyt has been given a virtual pass from his buddies in the Assembly:

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt escaped the most serious punishment by his Assembly colleagues for his extramarital affair with an intern, but college interns have been banned from his Albany and Buffalo offices.

The ban, announced Friday by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, followed a finding by the Assembly Ethics and Guidance Committee that the Buffalo Democrat had engaged in an “inappropriate personal relationship” with the woman, who was an intern when the affair began.

But stronger penalties — a formal censure or loss of his committee chairmanship — was not taken because she no longer was an intern in 2004 when the Assembly banned fraternization between lawmakers and interns.

Well, another Democrats gets away. Big shock.

Gerry Studds would be so proud.

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There’s certainly a lot to talk about following the results of Tuesday night’s primary. I’m only going to talk about two things.

First, Sam Hoyt. Are you freaking kidding me!?!? Really, are you freaking kidding me?

Okay, now, I’ve got to talk about NY-26.

Alice Kryzan won. Jon Powers lost.

Rochester Turning asks what happened? I’m gonna give my thoughts and answer the question.

Anyone would agree this campaign was Jon Powers’ to lose, and he lost it big time. He had the support of local party leaders. He had the support of the unions. He had the support of the netroots and the Democrat establishment in Washington. He should have won easily.

But, instead, Jon Powers got sucked into a brutal battle with Jack Davis. They hit each other constantly with negatives ads, leaving Alice Kryzan on the sidelines. Powers and Davis thought the race was between the two them. To a degree that is still true.

I don’t think Alice Kryzan won as much as Jon Powers (and I suppose Jack Davis) lost.

Alice Kryzan did run an incredibly effective ad. Personally, I thought she ran it too late in the campaign to move the race enough in her favor to win. One cannot ignore the significance of the Democrats of NY-26 rejecting the candidate their party leaders chose for them. They not only rejected the recommendation of their party leaders, but they rejected the netroots candidate. Powers touted his so-called grassroots campaign… but clearly it helps to have a grassroots campaign in your own district and not in Washington D.C. and everyone else but your own district.

Politico notes that the Democrat establishment had banked on Powers winning, and Kryzan’s upset victory certainly casts more doubt on the Democrats being able to win the seat.

But, there’s a potential wrench to be thrown in this race by Jon Powers. He did receive the endorsement of the Working Families Party, and is guaranteed a spot on the ballot in November on the Working Families Party line.

The question is, will he continue his campaign until November or not?

According to Monroe Rising, Jon Powers refused to concede, even when the outcome of the race was pretty much settled. What does that mean? We’ll have to wait and see. As of this post, Chris Lee has issued a congratulatory statement to Alice Kryzan. Lee said, “I want to congratulate Alice Kryzan on succeeding in the Democratic primary and invite Alice to join me in discussing the real issues that are important to Western New York.”

Alice Kryzan has emailed her supporters with her declaration of victory. “I am honored that the Democrats of this District have chosen me to represent them in the upcoming general election to be their next representative in Congress.”

I didn’t expect to hear from Davis, but the silence from Jon Powers is deafening. I suspect he is, at this very moment, deciding whether to pack it in, or to fight on as the Working Families Party candidate.

The news of Kryzan’s upset victory has caught some national attention from Politico:

Without their favored candidate, Democrats are a little more circumspect of their chances of picking up this Rochester and Buffalo-area district in November. Even though New York has become a reliable Democratic stronghold, this is one of the most solid GOP districts in the Empire State, giving President Bush 55 percent of the vote in 2004. 

Well, it’s past 1:00 AM and I have to go to work in the morning, so I’ll post this now and give more thoughts on the results of this race and a number of others…I assume I’ll also get to react to Powers’ decision to either continue his campaign  on the WFP line or to start looking for a new job.

In any case, congrats to Alice Kryzan. She’s going to lose in November, but I can’t help appreciating the upset victory she achieved tonight.

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I’m sorry, but I just can’t get my head around this. Sam Hoyt has affairs with interns in Albany, and yet, the Buffalo News, in their endorsement of Hoyt, is telling Democrats to ignore the scandal, and vote for the guy anyway.

Democratic Party voters in the Buffalo Assembly district now represented by veteran lawmaker Sam Hoyt have a difficult decision to make in Tuesday’s primary, and it has not been made any easier by a last-minute influx of ads supported by a high-sounding independent organization — an organization with eyebrow-raising ties to a political influence committee co-directed by an old political enemy of the assemblyman. This race has become a mess. Our recommendation — stay with Hoyt.

Beyond Hoyt’s deplorable personal conduct, there remains a solid record of service to Buffalo and of strong efforts to pass legislation of benefit to this region. Character is a key issue, but it is even more critical to choose candidates who can champion and accomplish important things for their districts, and Hoyt has proven he can do that for Buffalo. 

No, the Buffalo News, in endorsing Hoyt, are saying that character is not an issue. Instead of giving him the criticism he deserves, they paint him as the victim of a smear campaign, and he just merely provided the ammunition.

Whatever. If the Democrats want Sam Hoyt, they can have him. It speaks volumes about their hypocrisy.

Now, Buffalo Pundit, who has repeatedly attacked Tom Reynolds (with left-wing blogger talking points) saying he “covered up” the Mark Foley scandal, has also endorsed the intern hunting Sam Hoyt.

Go figure.

As I’ve already pointed out, the Democratic Party has a long history of elected and reelecting Democrats who have violated the public’s trust. Whining that Sam Hoyt, who has admitted to his affairs with interns, is the victim of a smear campaign, after spending the last two years smearing Tom Reynolds is just classic Democrat hypocrisy.

I guess for liberals, being a member of the Democratic Party is like having a Get Out Of Jail Free card… you can accept bribes like William Jefferson (D-LA), have affairs with underage congressional pages like Gerry Studds (D-MA), or be a pedophile like Mel Reynolds (D-IL) and get a free pass. 

If the Democrats have a moral compass, it’s leading them straight toward Sodom and Gomorrah. 

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Even though the Buffalo News reported otherwise, an attorney for the woman in question confirmed she was in fact an intern when the affair began.

In response to allegations that he had an affair a number of years ago with a college intern in Albany, Assemblyman Sam Hoyt in a statement said his past actions “were unfortunate,” but he offered no specifics about what he had done.

On Friday, 2 On Your Side spoke with an attorney for the woman in question. In January of 2003, the woman began a college internship in the office of Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward.

At the time the woman was 24 years old. It was then that she met Hoyt.

Scott Brown: “When did the relationship start, and what was your client doing at the time?”

Brian Barrett: “It’s my understanding my client met the assemblyman in the early to mid-part of 2003, whe she was working as an intern for an assemblywoman.”

Brown: “Did the relationship continue after her internship ended?”

Barrett: “Yes. The relationship did continue for some period of time after my client had ceased working as an intern for the assembly.”

Brown: “What has this past week been like for her with all of this publicity?”

Barrett: “Well it’s a non-event to my client, she never wanted this to certainly come to the media’s attention, this relationship concluded more than three years ago.”

Hoyt in a statement said he “broke no rules” of the Assembly.

And Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. 

Meanwhile, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown denies any involvement in the Hoyt brouhaha:

Just who is responsible for leaking information about Buffalo Assemblyman Sam Hoyt’s alleged affairs with interns? Some have suggested Mayor Brown may be. Brown says “no truth to it whatsoever, unfortunately Assemblyman Hoyt did what he did and I don’t think anyone made him do what he did.” 

The allegations of Hoyt’s affairs with two interns were first posted on PoliticsWNY.net published by Joseph Illuzzi. Brown says he hasn’t spoken with Illuzzi in at least a couple of months.

The woman/former intern, Lori Gladwell, was apparently had apparently been angry at Hoyt for cheater on her with other women, and sent copies of their conversations to Hoyt’s supporters:

Lori Gradwell was in intern for Assemblyman Sam Hoyt until she found he was having an affair with another intern. It seems that Gradwell could not stand the thought of Hoyt cheating, because Sam Hoyt was married. But she did not get angry for him cheating on his wife; she was angry for him cheating on her.

So, to get even, Lori Gradwell sent copies of some of their most explicit e-mails to all of Hoyt’s supporters.

Three years later, she has had her lawyer send letters to major media outlets in New York requesting they respect her privacy and not disclose the e-mails.

But those e-mails have gone public, much against Lori Gradwell’s wishes. But, then, as the New York Times observed, “Who does plan for their X-rated e-mail messages to go public?” 

Only those dumb enough to send them to “all of” anyone.

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WBEN reported this morning that the “Assembly Ethics Committee has apparently begun it’s probe” of Assemblyman Sam Hoyt.

Hoyt’s primary opponent, Barbra Kavanaugh, refused to comment on the scandal, telling WBEN, ”The assembly itself has a process to deal with that, and it has been  sent there and that’s where it belongs, not in the middle of this campaign.”

The Buffalo News, as I noted yesterday, says that women in question were not interns, as Illuzzi has claimed.

What amuses me most about this is how Sam Hoyt took the “attack the messenger” approach in his statement yesterday. He stated:

It’s sad that my political opponents have chosen to resort to the lowest tactics by dredging up a private matter from years ago just 21 days before an election. The timing is no accident. They would rather wallow in this type of politics than debate the challenges that face our community.

Leaking damaging information close to an election is hardly anything new in politics. Al Gore did it to George W. Bush in 2000. In 2006, Democrats, well aware of Mark Foley’s inappropriate behaviors with congressional pages, sat on the information until close to the midterm election in order to gain the most politically from it. Of course, despite their advanced knowledge, they blamed Republicans, particularly Tom Reynolds, of trying to cover it up, and not “protecting the children.”

What really gets me about this story is how the media is trashing, not just Joe Illuzzi, but all blogs. Now, to clear, I don’t see Illuzzi’s PoliticsNY.net as a blog. Nor does he. He wrote earlier today “We are not a blog or a gossip column!!!” But that’s not stopping Sandy Beach from not only trashing Illuzzi for his tactics, but bashing blogs in general.

I’ll be the first to admit there are a lot of blogs that publish a lot of crap.  But the negative generalizing of blogs, in my opinion, is out of resentment that blogs occasionally scoop the media… and the media doesn’t like it when that happens.

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From the Buffalo News:

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt said late Tuesday that he and his wife experienced “a difficult time in our marriage” in the past after a local blogger forwarded allegations to Speaker Sheldon Silver of affairs with two interns, prompting Silver to promise “appropriate action.”

Hoyt late Tuesday would not address the specifics of his marital difficulties and would neither confirm nor deny involvement with interns other than to acknowledge he had “broken my marriage vows” 3 1/2 years ago.

But a statement issued by Silver’s office indicated that information regarding alleged conduct of a member of the Assembly had been forwarded to the press office and was passed on to the chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Guidance for “appropriate action.”

“The Assembly has strict policies regarding fraternization,” said spokesman Daniel Weiller. “Violations of these policies will not be tolerated.”

Hoyt insisted in his statement and in an interview that no official rules or laws were broken, as alleged by blogger Joseph J. Illuzzi.

“That simply is not true,” Hoyt said.

It is interesting that while Illuzzi is given credit for posting the information, his website is not mentioned by name, nor was the web address revealed. Of course, Illuzzi’s so-called blog is PoliticsNY.net (which at the time of this blog entry appears to be having some SQL issues) and Illuzzi has scooped the Buffalo News many times, so I guess the credit he did get was better than nothing. Buffalo Pundit notes that Illuzzi is probably more bothered by being called a “blogger” than he is by the criticisms he’s apparently getting in the media. He also believes that the leaking of the emails “undoubtedly originates from City Hall.”

UPDATE: Sam Hoyt’s statement, from 1:30 this afternoon:

Recently, accusations and slurs have been made online about my personal life; and like a lot of things on the Internet, much of it is false.

Here’s what is true. Several years ago, my wife and I had a difficult time in our marriage.  Since that time, my wife Connie and I have worked hard to put this behind us, and believe the episode to be a painful but private matter best left in the past.

While my past actions were unfortunate, and for which I have expressed to my family my sincere apology, one blogger has alleged that official rules or laws were broken. That simply is not true.

It’s sad that my political opponents have chosen to resort to the lowest tactics by dredging up a private matter from years ago just 21 days before an election.  The timing is no accident. They would rather wallow in this type of politics than debate the challenges that face our community. I am disappointed, but frankly, not all that surprised given the players involved.

I leave this in the voters’ hands. It’s my view that the people of Buffalo and Grand Island face more pressing issues than this. My family, who are more important to me than anything, has gone through a great deal to put this in the past where it belongs. We ask only for the privacy that any other family would be granted under these circumstances — nothing more, nothing less. 

UPDATE, 3:40 PM: Sandy Beach is trashing blogs on WBEN right now.

UPDATE: Still on Hoyt’s website:

Since being elected in 1992, more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students and volunteers have interned in my office.  Many of these past interns are now employed in their desired fields of government, journalism, academia, and law.

I need motivated individuals to assist my office staff with a variety of responsibilities.  Because my staff  is small, I rely on volunteers to help perform my job and respond effectively to the needs of my constituents.  I encourage people from all backgrounds who are interested in learning more about the legislative process, and improving the quality of life in our community to contact my District Office about my internship program. -Sam Hoyt

How many clicks do you think that’s getting?

UPDATE: More at What In The Sam Hoyt?

UPDATE: Buffalo News reports that adults, not interns, were romantically linked to Hoyt.

Two women believed to have been romantically linked to Assemblyman Sam Hoyt were adults and not interns when they were allegedly involved with the married legislator, according to records from the Assembly and the state comptroller’s office obtained by The Buffalo News.

The information, which could exonerate Hoyt of legal or rule violations, came as an Assembly ethics committee with broad investigatory powers began a lightning-fast probe into the allegations against the eight-term assemblyman, just weeks before a crucial primary election.

But Wednesday, Hoyt, 46, said he could not comment on the details - including the timing - of his alleged affairs.

A day earlier, Hoyt, D-Buffalo, had admitted to The News that he had “broken his wedding vows” 3-1/2 years ago but denied he had done anything illegal or against State Assembly rules in doing so.

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