Jones’ allies accuse WFP candidate of running fake campaign

Allies of former Representative  Mondaire Jones, the Democrat nominee for New York’s 17th Congressional District,  have filled suit against Anthony Frascone, a third party candidate who has made no apparent effort to campaign for office. Six plaintiffs, including election lawyer Keith Corbett — who successfully had independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. thrown off the ballot over failure to establish residency, have filled suit with the State Supreme Court in Westchester County accusing Frascone of defrauding voters.

Frascone, a Congers resident, won the nomination for Working Families Party (WFP) in June, handing an upset to Jones and the Democrat party who have traditionally been closely allied with WFP.  

Frascone, who clinched the nomination from Jones by a mere 90 votes, does not have a campaign website that the RCT was able to discover and has not reported any fund-raising. 

In a statement shared with the Gothamist, Ana Maria Archila, co-director of the party, bluntly shared her doubts that Frascone’s efforts are genuine.

“Anthony Frascone is not running for Congress,” said Archila.

Jones, who represented Rockland County from 2020 through 2022 refrained from running for a second term after New York’s voting district maps were redrawn at the end of his tenure. Jones instead sought the Democrat nomination in the newly drawn 10th District which covers parts of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan and was defeated by Democrat Dan Goldman who now holds that office. 

The 2022 Democratic nomination for the 17th District  instead went to Patrick Maloney, who was defeated by Republican Mike Lawler in a close race decided by less than 2,000 votes. The incumbent Lawler is now facing Jones in another tight contest to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District, which includes all of Rockland County. 

Jones and his allies have argued that Frascone’s nomination is disingenuous, and exists only as an effort to keep Jones off of the Working Parties Family Line. Westchester State Supreme Judge Janet Malone issued a restraining order on October 2, preventing election boards within the 17th District from issuing ballots to voters with Working Families Party candidate Anthony Frascone’s name on it until she rules in the case.