MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A notary public hired by James Glorioso Jr.’s campaign for Montgomery County sheriff has been arrested by the New York State Police in Fonda and charged with offering to file a false instrument, a class E felony.
Kirsten Lemire of Amsterdam was was arrested on Thursday. State police did not provide specifics about the charge against Lemire on Friday.
A notary public can be used to witness signatures for the designating petition used for an opportunity to ballot, such as the one Glorioso filed to run as a write-in candidate for the Conservative Party primary.
Glorioso’s petition was ruled invalid Aug. 6 after the Montgomery County Board of Elections agreed with nine of the 25 objections made to the 42 signatures Glorioso had obtained in an attempt to get the 34 needed to be in the primary. The objections were filed by Cheryl Reese, a member of the Conservative Party, as well as the clerk of the Montgomery County Legislature and supervisor for the town of Minden.
Glorioso is running for sheriff as a Democrat, as well as being on the Working Families Party line and the Women’s Equality Party line. He will face Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Jeff Smith, who is running on the Republican, Conservative, Reform and Independent party lines.
Glorioso confirmed Friday that Lemire was the notary he hired for his opportunity to ballot in the Conservative Party primary.
“My opponent’s campaign hired a private investigator to dig up anything they could find on those signatures. I did not get enough valid signatures to proceed, however my opponent is still using them as an attempt to discredit my reputation and derail my campaign,” he states in the news release. “This is nothing more than a smokescreen to stop a very positive campaign. It is extremely unfortunate that my opponent is willing to sacrifice the future of a hard-working single mother and volunteer firefighter in order to benefit his own campaign. I stand on solid ground with my integrity and commitment to work hard on this campaign to earn your trust.”
When contacted through social media on Friday, Lemire confirmed that she had been arrested and that she is a single mother and a member of the Fort Johnson Volunteer Fire Company. She said she could not comment on her arrest at this time.
Smith also said he would not comment on the arrest of Lemire at this time.
In his statement, Glorioso indicated that he believes there will be further legal action involving his opportunity to ballot in the Conservative Party primary, but stated he will not withdraw from the race.
“I am sure that these tactics will continue and quite frankly this should not be in the criminal justice system. I have retainedaAttorney James Long to address this and will direct any further questions to him. Regardless of what occurs I am going to fight to give the community an option in November,” he stated.
Glorioso and Smith are squaring off to replace Sheriff Mike Amato, who has served for 21 years. Amato announced his retirement in April. Smith, who is also the former undersheriff, had indicated his willingness to challenge Amato in a Republican Party primary if he did not retire.
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
