Golisano group tied to attacks on Hoyt
Responsible New York — the B. Thomas Golisano-funded, G. Steven Pigeon-managed political organization — has been linked to a spate of political attacks against incumbent Assemblyman Sam Hoyt despite efforts to hide their involvement.
A group calling itself Mothers and Fathers Demanding Answers has mailed a provocative piece of campaign literature and launched a Web site that assails Hoyt in harsh terms for past sexual relations with an Assembly staff member.
The Web site is registered through a service in Australia. The return address on the flyer is a direct mail service in Long Island City. The owner refuses to say who paid the bill.
The flyer, however, uses the same bulk mail permit issued to Responsible New York.
Is Golisano’s organization behind the effort?
“I’m not going to comment,” Pigeon said.
He went on to express knowledge of Mothers and Fathers Demanding Answers, saying he expects the group will file with the state Board of Elections as an independent committee, if it hasn’t already.
How does he explain Mothers and Fathers using the same bulk mail permit as Responsible New York?
“Independent committees can work together under the law.”
Does that mean the two groups are coordinating their efforts?
“I think it will all come out in the [Board of Election] reports,” he said.
Mothers and Fathers had not registered with the elections board as of Thursday afternoon, according the the board’s Web site.
Responsible New York operates as an “independent unauthorized committee,” which allows it to operate without many of the limitations placed on other political committees. But state election law prohibits it from coordinating its activities with the campaigns of candidates.
Both Pigeon and Barbra Kavanaugh, Hoyt’s opponent in next Tuesday’s Democratic primary, maintain that Responsible New York and the campaign are not coordinating efforts. Responsible New York, however, has mailed a series of flyers attacking Hoyt, and Golisano is one of Kavanaugh’s largest financial contributors.
Pigeon insists Responsible New York is operating within the election law.
Jeremy Toth, an attorney in the Hoyt campaign, said the activities of Mothers and Fathers is yet another example of Pigeon’s underhanded tactics.
Pigeon said he doesn’t regard the campaign as out of the ordinary.
“I don’t think this one is dirty,” he said.
