Intriguing nugget from last week’s arrest warrant detailing the latest campaign-related charge against Democratic Party Vice Chair Wanda Geter-Pataky alleging she had contact with potential witnesses against a court order, showing up in a truck full of grapes and a wave of the hand. Gimme some skin. That’s just grape!
Anyhoo, the genesis of that charge reveals a state inspector visited the Town Clerk’s Office after the CT Mirror and OIB reported City Councilwoman Maria Pereira had not been deterred from harvesting absentee ballots for her re-election even after state charges leveled against her early this year for, among other things, possessing the ballots of voters against state law.
In the extended 2023 mayoral race, Pereira supported John Gomes for mayor over incumbent Joe Ganim in the Democratic primary, after declaring she’d never do that.
Dozens of electors, according to the state, were pressured to change their absentee votes via a green form requesting another ballot. This was particularly extensive in Pereira’s 138th Upper East Side district with large senior citizen housing units. If Pereira learned that a constituent had voted a particular way, according to the affidavit, seniors were prevailed upon to claim an error on their absentee ballot, canceling the previous ballot so they could change their vote.
In the end Pereira lost heavily with the walk-in vote but her absentee prowess put her over the top. Imagine that? Pereira, for years, screamed about absentee cheaters then decided to join the party.
The flashpoint for all of this came in the aftermath of the Democratic mayoral primary with dozens of election complaints filed by both Gomes and Ganim campaign operatives. Geter-Pataky became the face of the allegations when she was captured on video surveillance leaked to the Gomes campaign placing ballots into the drop box fronting the Morton Government Center when she then helmed the front desk.
The Gomes campaign challenged Ganim’s close primary advantage in court. A state judge ordered a new primary. Four elections took place, that extended the campaign season into February 2024 when Ganim was finally declared the winner.
So, Pereira’s back at it scouring absentee ballots so save her seat. The latest report from the Town Clerk’s Office shows that about 350 absentee ballot applications have been requested In the 138th District.
This time around Pereira has hooked up with Keyla Medina, a resident of vote-rich Success Village, as her running mate, against council incumbent Samia Suliman and District Leader Kevin Monks.
Pereira, the self-proclaimed piranha of city politics, sinks her teeth into just about everyone who comes into her orbit. Win or lose, Medina will be next. Just a question of time.
