ALBANY – Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who is running for both state attorney general and re-election to the House of Representatives, will be allowed to keep his name on the September 13 Democratic primary for the state post.
Republican congressional hopeful James O’Donnell had sought, in
a State Supreme Court lawsuit, to keep Maloney off the attorney general
ballot, but lawyers for the Republicans who filed suit withdrew their
challenge to the state AG primary race, confining the challenge strictly
to the House contest.
“It was no surprise that the Republicans in Albany challenged my petitions, but I’m glad we cleared this up once and for all and that voters will get a real choice at the ballot box in September,” Maloney said in a prepared statement.
O’Donnell said Maloney believes he is above the law being allowed to run simultaneously for two different offices “even though state law and previous court decisions have prohibited it.”
O’Donnell, an Orange County legislator and retired State Police official, said Maloney “has turned his back on his congressional district and is arrogantly treating us as nothing more than a backup plan.”
The Republican’s challenge to Maloney’s congressional campaign awaits a Supreme Court justice’s decision.
