Heard Around Town
Oops! Kristy Marmorato’s name misspelled on Bronx GOP petitions
The Republican council member had to scramble and collect corrected petitions on her own.
City Council Member Kristy Marmorato John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
Republican New York City Council Member Kristy Marmorato’s name was misspelled on hundreds of petitions submitted to the city Board of Elections this week, potentially giving Democratic opponents an opening to challenge her signatures.
The Northeast Bronx native’s last name was misspelled “Mamorato” on the petitions that included the names of a slate of additional Republican candidates, including mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, comptroller candidate Peter Kefalas, public advocate candidate Gonzalo Duran and Bronx borough president candidate Grace Marrero among others. Those petitions included more than 1000 signatures.
Michael Rendino, chair of the Bronx Republican Party, did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.
A spokesperson for Marmorato described the misspelling on the Bronx Republican Party’s petitions as a “printer's error.” After her campaign realized there had been a mistake – about a week out from the April 3 deadline – they decided to still submit the signatures so as to not adversely impact the rest of the slate. Then they went back out and collected more signatures that were just for Marmorato, turning in roughly 1,340 to the BOE, according to the spokesperson.
Many Democrats are competing in the upcoming primary to get the chance to challenge Marmorato, the first Republican elected in the Bronx in decades, for her seat.
While not ideal, the spelling snafu is probably not the end of the world for Marmorato’s hopes of getting a second term. It’s unclear whether the Bronx Republican Party is directly responsible for the spelling mistake or whether it was a printer’s error, but if it was the latter, the printer can submit a letter to the BOE explaining what happened and take responsibility, according to election attorney Sarah Steiner. “The board will frequently say that’s OK,” Steiner said. Even if that doesn’t happen though, Marmorato will likely still be able to get on the ballot. City Council candidates need to secure a minimum of 450 to 900 valid signatures – a variation that can be attributed to the difference between state and city law. Most of the signatures Marmorato submitted on petitions where her name was correctly spelled will probably qualify.
“If she got another thousand on the correct petitions, I don’t think anything’s going to happen to her,” Steiner said.