Twice-nominated Erie man off Suffolk ballot

An unusual battle was waged Friday in State Supreme Court in Riverhead over a Working Families Party candidate who ended up being nominated for both a State Senate seat in Buffalo and a State Supreme Court judgeship in Suffolk.

Seeking two offices at once is barred by state law. So Justice Gerard Garguilo knocked the candidate, Gregory Davis of Erie County, off the Suffolk judicial ballot but left him on the Buffalo-area Senate ballot.

How did it happen? After Sen. Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) won a Republican primary, the WFP had moved to nominate Democrat Michael Amodeo to replace Davis in the race against Grisanti. Davis would clear a path by running for the court. But the deadline for declining Senate nominations passed in July. -- Rick Brand