FACT BRIEF

Did a New York assembly member nearly lose her seat because of errors in her filing paperwork?

Friday, November 6, 2020

By Esther Honig

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YES

Rebecca Seawright, who represents a Manhattan district in New York's state assembly, missed the filing requirements for her Democratic Party primary because of paperwork errors, but appears likely to have secured her seat by running as an independent candidate in the Nov. 3 general election.

Her Republican challenger, Lou Puliafito, challenged her primary filing errors in state court and succeeded in keeping her out of the primary. That seemed to leave a clear path for Puliafito, a union activist and doorman at a luxury high-rise, who had also challenged her in 2018.

Seawright returned to the November ballot as a candidate from the "Rise and Unite" party. Results as of Nov. 5 show her ahead by about 3,000 votes, about eight percentage points ahead, with a majority of votes cast.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

New York State Court System: Rebecca Seawright v. Board of Elections

Lou for All: Lou Puliafito's campaign website

Ballotpedia: New York State Assembly 76th District

New York State Board of Elections: Unofficial election results

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