The City Board of Elections denied Independence Party candidate to replace the late John Lavelle representing Staten Island's North Shore in the March 27 Special Election Kelvin Alexander's bid to place his made up Family First line (Not to be confused with Working Families which supports Democratic opponent Matt Titone ) as an additional line on the ballot. The board ruled that 611 of the petition's 1616 signatures were invalid, leaving him short of the 1100 he needed for that additional line.

Alexander, a Staten Island Democratic County Committee member, is running on the Independence line and potentially turning a potential easy Democratic win into an opportunity for Republican Rose Margarella, because the party chose Titone over him. He is undecided if he'll fight the ruling with the state Supreme Court.

Alexander has accused any challenge of his fabricated party petition as marginalizing minority voters. I find that a stretch since he's already on the ballot as a better known party's candidate.  read more »

Candidates to fill the late John Lavelle's State Assembly seat, the openly Gay Matt Titone and Kelvin Alexander, a co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care accuse each other's campaigns of bigotry according to Saturday's Link TextStaten Island Advance.

Democratic Candidate Titone, who lost to Andrew Lanza in a November State Senate bid, has been challenging Alexander, the Independence Party candidate (But still a member of County Democratic Committee) and Democratic Brooklyn State Senator Eric Adams's chief of staff's petition signatures. Not signatures for his Independence candidacy, but those for his made up additional line, the Family First Party (Which has nothing to do with the Working Families Party).

Alexander finished a distant fourth at the Staten Island Democratic Committee's nominating convention. Anticipating that type of County Committee result, he secured the Independence nomination and began petitioning for his made up party line before the convention.  read more »