By Dan Murphy
With an upcoming June 23 primary in Yonkers, in the middle of the Coronavirus, two factors have changed the dynamics of the Democratic Primary for Yonkers City Court: Negative campaigning, and the return to Yonkers politics of Zehy Jereis. And many believe that both are linked, with most Yonkers democrats we spoke to saying that negative campaigning, or lies, should have no part in politics during a pandemic and in a Judicial race.
Five candidates are running for the Democratic nomination for Yonkers City Court Judge, three of which won the Democratic City Convention and have the nomination of the party. They are: Judge Tom Daly, Judge Brendan McGrath and attorney Verris Shako.
Two other Yonkers attorneys are also on the ballot. Dan Romano and Karen Best. Both are claiming that they were denied the right to fairly compete at the Yonkers Democratic convention, when the facts show that both did not get the votes from the party faithful: Romano got 28%, Best got 0% because she could not get a single Yonkers Democrat to nominate her.
Yonkers Democratic Chairman Tom Meier said, “To say that the convention was rigged and that our system is corrupt in an outright lie. These accusations against me are also against the 400 district leaders who attended the convention and voted their conscience. I twisted no arms and I can’t help it if they didn’t like the outcome. Democrats didn’t vote for them.”
Additional falsehoods and accusations have been thrown at the Democratic Party nominees by Romano and his campaign. These claims were then posted on the Yonkers Tribune website, which permits comments below the original post.
Several of those comments concerned the wife of one of the judicial candidates, who while not running for Judge, had to endure the negative attacks while she was recovering from COVID-19. Several public figures in Yonkers have sued the Yonkers Tribune for libel, based on these same types of harmful, hateful comments which are not deleted.
In prior campaigns for Yonkers City Court, candidates openly and honestly ran for Judge without regard to political party. Candidates also sought the endorsement from both the democratic and republican parties, in an attempt to take politics out of a judicial race.
But this year, all traditions of decency are being thrown out, as the Romano campaign has attacked Judge Daly for taking the republican party line and Judge McGrath for taking the conservative party line, and in doing so, attempting to link both the President Donald Trump.
This move was the last straw for many democrats, who see hypocrisy in the move by both Romano and Jereis to claim democratic loyalty when both are longtime former republicans.
Several Yonkers Democrats have contacted us to also highlight the fact that Jereis is leading an effort to run democratic candidates for Yonkers District Leader in forty races in an attempt to wield power in the Yonkers Democratic Party.
For those who don’t know, Zehy Jereis is the former Republican Party Chairman in Yonkers. In 2012, he was found guilty of bribery and extortion related to the “sale” of former Councilwoman Sandy Annabi’s vote. He served four years in prison.
One democratic district leader wrote the following to Yonkers Rising. “Mr. Murphy, I did not want to have to send you this email letter, but as a loyal Yonkers Democrat I have no choice.
“I have to speak out against the attacks made against Yonkers Democratic Chair Tom Meier, and every Yonkers democratic leader, (I am a district leader) as disgraceful.
“We have a democratic candidate for City Court, Dan Romano, who is using a disgraced, former republican, Zehy Jereis, to spread lies about three decent Yonkers people.
“Let me be clear: I do not want Jereis to take over MY DEMOCRATIC PARTY! If Mr. Jereis were to take over MY DEMORATIC PARTY, I will leave the party that I have loved for 25 years, and find another party.
“I know and respect Mr. Romano and his family. They have been a part of Yonkers for decades. I wanted to hear more about Romano and I actually considered voting for him for Judge.
“But that was before I saw the dirty tricks of his campaign, which are right out of the playbook of Zehy Jereis.
“I was also at the City Democratic Convention, and I voted as a district leader for Daly, McGrath and Shako. The fix was not in Mr. Romano and Mr. Jereis, you simply lost the vote, and it wasn’t all that close.
“I wonder how many other Yonkers Democrats know about Zehy Jereis and his operation of Romano’s campaign, and that Jereis is trying to take over OUR Yonekrs Democratic Party. That is why I write you this letter Mr. Murphy,” writes Mrs. J, whose name is withheld on her request.
Former Yonkers Democratic Chair Ann Muro, who is the Ward leader in the 5th Ward, is one of many Ward leaders whose district leaders are under challenge.
“My district leaders have been honored at our democratic dinners as district leaders of the year. They are active and loyal democrats. My question to Zehy Jereis is why are you challenging these democrats?
“I called Dan Romano and asked him to talk to Zehy and find our why he is doing this? Now that Zehy is a democrat, he wants to take over the party?,” said Muro who has 48 district leaders in her 5th Ward.
Meier also made the distinction between Yonkers democrats who have served for years, and helped and supported other Yonkers democrats on the ballot, and those who have just joined the party and now want to run for office.
“Dan Romano is a nice guy, but he hasn’t been involved in the democratic party. Karen Best has also now run for judge twice but has not been involved in the democratic party.
“Verris Shako has been involved, as a district leader, and in helping other democratic candidates get elected, and she is one of our three endorsed democrats for City Judge.
“Zehy Jereis has also not been involved in the democratic paty, he was involved in the republican party and now all of a sudden he is a democrat. I think we all should remember the golden rule of politics. Don’t throw stone from glass houses. He (Jereis) had told me repeatedly that he is not going after me for leader, but he is slowly accumulating district leaders for the future.
“But whoever is crafting this negative message, if they are going to start throwing mud, I’ll stand on my record as democratic chairman, and stand behind the choice of Yonkers democrats at our convention, for Judge Daly, Judge McGrath and Verris Shako,” said Meier.
Romano has claimed at several campaign events that Jereis is not his campaign manager, but regardless of title, many democrats wanted to set the record straight, and do not want to see this type of negative, and vindictive type of campaigning, during the pandemic and for a judicial race.
