The Editorial Board: Erie County Republicans and Conservatives game the system

It began with the November election of then-County Legislator Joseph C. Lorigo as a State Supreme Court judge. To fill that vacancy, which opened on Jan. 1., the minority caucus was required by the County Charter to appoint someone from the same political party as Lorigo, a Conservative.

It did. You just have to squint to see it.

Republicans named Town of Elma Council Member James Malczewski to the 10th District seat last week. Malczewski was a Republican until he abruptly switched his affiliation to Conservative, thus rending legal what was an obvious political sleight of hand. Cheesier, still, the new Conservative is expected soon to renounce that affiliation and return to the Republican fold. It’s all legal.

Erie County Conservative Party Chairman Ralph Lorigo understands that but, sensibly enough, doesn’t accept it. Speaking publicly, he threatened three Republican legislators who won their seats with the Conservative backing.

“You need to do the right thing,” Ralph Lorigo told legislators John Mills, Frank Todaro and Christopher Greene. “The three of you sit with my endorsement, the Conservative endorsement. You can’t just come to us at the time of endorsements and say you’re going to do the right thing, have a conscience, you’re going to follow the rules, and then change them later on. That’s not going to get anybody continued support.”

What the senior Lorigo wanted was for Republicans to appoint his daughter-in-law – Joseph Lorigo’s wife. Appropriately enough for this charade, Lindsay Bratek-Lorigo was once a Republican herself until she married into Erie County’s most prominent Conservative family.

Ralph Lorigo argued – unpersuasively – that the reason he supported his son’s wife is because she is so well-qualified for the job. Bratek-Lorigo holds several degrees and worked briefly with the County Legislature and State Assembly, so give her this: She’s better prepared than Donald Trump’s son-in-law was as peace envoy to the Middle East. But, please: Is he kidding? Enough of the nepotism. And not just nepotism, but bullying, as well.

Democratic Party Chairman Jeremy Zellner was explicit in his denunciation.

“The Conservative Chair has decided to threaten lawmakers in order to give his daughter-in-law a seat in the County Legislature,” he said in a statement. “It is outrageous for a Party Leader to interject himself into a Governmental meeting, especially to promote a family member.”

Lorigo’s argument would have been unassailable had he been promoting some other qualified Conservative, because Republicans and Malczewski were plainly evading the clear meaning of the law. To make the appointment, they exploited what Chairman Lorigo described as a “quirk” in new election laws that allows anyone to change parties at any time. If the succession requirement is to have any real-world meaning, then that law will need to be reconsidered.

There was one slice of good news in this otherwise unpalatable meal. Mills, the Legislature’s newly named minority leader, offered a commitment of greater collaboration with Democrats.

“I think my role is to get everybody on the same page on both sides of the aisle,” he said. “You’re not going to see a lot of sparks and fireworks.”

No one should expect him to roll over for the Democrats who dominate the Legislature, but the job of the minority is loyal opposition, not pointless opposition. Happily, that’s what Mills seems to recognize.

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