Elaine Phillips fails to get Tax Revolt line in Senate race
Elaine Phillips, Republican candidate for New York State Senate 7th District, at Nassau GOP headquarters on Monday, June 20, 2016. Credit: James Escher
Republican Elaine Phillips failed to submit enough signatures to obtain the Tax Revolt ballot line in her November contest against Democrat Adam Haber in the 7th Senate District, officials said Friday.
Phillips, mayor of the Village of Flower Hill, submitted 1,729 signatures to qualify for the ballot line — fewer than the 3,000 required by law, Nassau Board of Elections officials said. The board ruled on the case Thursday, officials said.
Phillips and Haber are vying to succeed Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury), who is vacating the seat to run for Congress in the 3rd District.
In a statement, Haber said Phillips was “trying to pull one over on the voters” by submitting Tax Revolt petitions without the required signatures. He noted that as a Flower Hill trustee in 2012, Phillips voted to override the state’s 2 percent tax cap.
“The facts are that Elaine Phillips not only voted to raise taxes, but also voted to ignore and break the state’s tax cap meant to protect homeowners from out-of-control tax hikes,” Haber said.
Phillips spokesman Chris McKenna said Haber also increased taxes as a member of the Roslyn school board while Democrats hiked taxes on Long Islanders when they controlled the State Senate.
“Of course, Adam Haber doesn’t want Elaine Phillips’ name on a tax cut party when the political cronies supporting his campaign enacted the largest tax hikes in state history, and he’s voted every single year to raise school taxes, while Elaine Phillips has a record of actually reducing taxes in her village,” McKenna said.
CORRECTION
This story incorrectly characterized a 2012 vote by then Flower Hill Village Trustee Elaine Phillips to override the state’s 2 percent tax cap. The Village board did vote to override the cap but Phillips, now a Republican state senator, voted against the measure.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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