Two months before the 2020 election, I wrote in this very paper about the congressman that had been poorly representing Hamilton College and Central New York in Congress for the past two years, Anthony Brindisi. Now, last week, 94 days after that election was held, New York State Supreme Court Judge Scott Delconte ordered the certification so former US Representative Claudia Tenney would be able to reclaim her seat from Brindisi by a narrow 109 votes. I’m sure my “woke” peers, who have practically bowed down to the former congressman, have been shuddering over the last few days since the judge’s ruling. But for so many reasons, I am glad that the hardworking men and women of NY-22 have kicked Brindisi and all of his “BS” to the curb. Although I celebrate this win for the Republican woman, this race has shown me a few really critical things about Hamilton Democrats, the election system in NY-22, and how Brindisi’s “BS” is now out there for all to see like never before.
From the very beginning of the certification process and county Boards of Elections recount processes, Brindisi and his out-sourced DC lawyers turned a blind eye to election law. Throughout the 94 day count, Judge Delconte made it extremely apparent several times just how unreasonable and unlawful Brindisi’s lawyers wanted him to be when it came to ruling on disputed ballots.
On December 21st
, Judge Delconte got particularly heated when discussing consistency issues that Brindisi’s camp could potentially find themselves in and recommended that they “be very careful” in how they answered questions moving forward. He followed this a few minutes later when he told the lawyers, “don’t lecture me on the law.”
On January 22nd
, when arguing the validity of other ballots, the Brindisi lawyers had also apparently angered the judge with their unreasonable whining when the judge asked them, “Do you want every legal vote counted?” The lawyers responded “yes, but-” and Delconte angrily sniped back, “How can there be a but after that question? Every legal vote means every legal vote, there are no but’s.”
On February 1st
, the judge ordered a pause on Oneida County’s certification to appease Brindisi’s attorney’s only after he had barked at them: “We’re in February, the reason you’re asking me to do this is based on information you had in December.”
On Twitter
that afternoon, one reporter wrote: “The judge’s anger can’t be expressed in a tweet.” Finally,
on February 5th
Judge Delconte ordered Oneida County to certify their vote count, making Claudia Tenney the winner. In tune with his behavior since the count began, Brindisi cast a large shadow of doubt on the process,
claiming election machine errors
, and demanding a hand recount, even after many counties had already spent time counting and recounting since November. In
his ruling
, the judge wrote, “there are no unresolved discrepancies with the machine count” and then wrote, “As a result of these special proceedings, every single valid vote that was cast in New York’s 22nd Congressional District has been accounted for, and counted.” Brindisi finally conceded 3 days later on Monday, February 8th, while calling out the “
ineptitude
” of our hardworking men and women who work at the Boards of Elections. Boards of Elections were simply overwhelmed by the pandemic, but especially
Governor Cuomo’s sweeping new policies
when it came to voting and election laws in New York.
I hope Congresswoman Tenney and Anthony Brindisi can assist in ensuring Boards of Elections won’t be overwhelmed by sweeping state law so the people of NY-22 won’t go without a vote in Congress for so long ever again. I also hope instead of incessantly emailing the campus, posting tainted “information” on their social media, and targeting writers like me, the Hamilton Democrats congratulate Congresswoman Tenney, as well as maybe work with other organizations to try to raise awareness for what happened to delay Oneida County and other counties from certifying their results.
As for those Hamilton Democrats, last semester they fawned over any chance they could get to catch Anthony Brindisi on a Zoom. Scarily, that included even being
mask-less together in a KJ Classroom
(note the maskless faces with KJ walls/boards in the back) violating the College’s Community Standards Agreement. Furthermore, when I wrote my article criticizing Brindisi last semester (seemingly the only voice to do so on campus) they couldn’t help but publish a response that ignored the facts (20+ hyperlinks) I used to make my claims. Around that same time, on
Twitter
and
Facebook
, (now) Congresswoman Tenney promoted my article, thanked me for my support, and ended by using the hashtag #HamiltonStudentsForClaudia. Then, a prominent Hamilton Democrat couldn’t help herself and replied that the sentiment “doesn’t even exist,” insinuating my opinion and any others who supported her here on the Hill “didn’t exist.” Maybe this is why there isn’t a firm Hamilton College Republican organization, because of the aggressive, shaming, Hamilton Democrats who will barely let me write articles like this without covering me up at every turn and wishing I didn’t “exist.” I’m largely unsurprised by the behavior, but look forward to their backing down and congratulating their now Congresswoman who represents them for around 8 months of the year. This will suit them better than pushing posts that demand yet another recount, and calling for voter machine fraud, since they certainly wouldn’t want to sound like Sidney Powell, or even worse, Powell’s former client, Donald Trump.
In the meantime, I will excitedly congratulate and cheer on Congresswoman Tenney when she is officially seated in Congress on Thursday the 11th, exactly 100 days after Cuomo’s reckless voting laws overwhelmed our Boards of Elections. May Congresswoman Tenney hold President Biden accountable, represent the 22nd district of New York, and maybe even receive a few more
Bipartisan Presidential pens
that Congressman Brindisi just couldn’t seem to get his hands on… in the meantime, bye bye, Brindisi!
