POUGHKEEPSIE – Democratic Dutchess County Legislator Giancarlo Llaverias (District 1) is being sued by Republicans attempting to keep him off of the ballot in November. The case will be heard by Dutchess County Supreme Court Justice Christi Acker on April 26, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.
Poughkeepsie Town Councilman Michael Cifone and Republican County Legislature candidate Bob Gorman, who is running for Llaverias’ seat have filed the lawsuit claiming that the designating petitions filed by Llaverias at the Dutchess County Board of Elections are invalid and should not be counted in the total number of signatures required to be submitted.
The Republicans claim, through their attorney John Ciampoli, that the Llaverias petitions contain numerous examples of fraud, including collecting signatures before and after the prescribed dates, and some signatures were written in pencil.
If Cifone and Gorman are successful, Llaverias will not appear on November’s ballot and Gorman will be unopposed in the election.
