Monica Martinez cleared for Democratic primary ballot

The Suffolk Board of Elections has cleared the way for county Legis. Monica Martinez to be on the Sept. 12 Democratic primary ballot, despite objections from backers of her opponent, Angela Ramos.

Election officials made their decision late Friday, based on the cover page of Ramos’ objections, which claimed Martinez, of Brentwood, had 523 faulty signatures. Even if true, Martinez filed 1,046 signatures with 523 qualified names, more than the 500 required to qualify for the ballot in the Ninth District.

Ramos, the wife of Assemb. Phil Ramos (D-Brentwood), said her campaign will not seek to overturn the decision in court. “It was our mistake,” she said, acknowledging her campaign made an error on the cover page. “What they [the elections board] did was fair.”

Ramos, who filed 3,200 signatures to get on the ballot, said, “The lack of support for Monica is obvious. I got three times the support she got [on petitions]. We are going to continue and take this campaign into the street, knocking on doors.”

However, Luis Montes, Islip Democratic leader and Martinez’s campaign manager, said Ramos did not demonstrate support, just wasteful spending.

“It is a testament to fiscal mismanagement to spend $50,000 on New York City campaign workers to collect 3,000 signatures, when only 500 are required,” Montes said.