Campaigns for judgeships are supposed to be about the candidates' qualifications and not controversy.
Not this year in Niagara County.
Mailboxes and answering machines are being filled with hard-hitting attacks, with plenty more likely before the June 23 multiparty primary.
The candidates are both Democrats: District Attorney Caroline A. Wojtaszek of North Tonawanda and Michael E. Benedict of Lockport, law clerk to retiring County Judge Sara Sheldon.
They are running for the Democratic and Republican ballot lines and those of six minor parties. Both said they want to keep the race ethical.
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"A judicial race is not about politics," Wojtaszek said. "It is about who has the necessary qualifications and experience such an important job requires."
"With all the negative news that is out there right now and the stressed state that we are all living in, the questions to my campaign are not about all the good we are doing, or how I have insisted on keeping my messaging positive, when my opponent has not," Benedict said. "Instead the questions are about things that have upset my opponent that I have zero control over."
Last week, former GOP State Sen. George D. Maziarz tapped into his old campaign fund, which still contains more than $500,000, for a mass-mailing calling Wojtaszek an "Obama-Hillary Democrat" who doesn't deserve the votes of Republicans – even though the county GOP endorsed her.
Caroline Wojtaszek is married to Maziarz's former friend, Henry F. Wojtaszek, the onetime county GOP chairman who now heads Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.
The once-close Maziarz-Wojtaszek partnership collapsed in 2017 when Henry Wojtaszek took a plea deal and testified in a grand jury against Maziarz when both were accused of violating state campaign financial disclosure laws.
Maziarz, who later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, was prominent last year in alleging misuse of public funds by Wojtaszek and others at OTB. The FBI opened a probe last year.
Friday, he challenged Henry Wojtaszek to say whether he and his wife ever used tickets to sporting events OTB purchased. Henry Wojtaszek refused to respond.
"It is very disappointing that George Maziarz and others are using a race for Niagara County Court judge as a proxy war to spew hatred toward me and my family," Henry Wojtaszek said. "I would be more upset with his lies and slander except for the fact that his opinion really isn't relevant these days."
"I'm pro-Republican Party," Maziarz said. "I know there were some very good Republicans who wanted to seek this office and were discouraged from doing so to pave the way for Caroline. She's a liberal Democrat and I felt compelled to let the Republicans know that."
The county Democratic Committee mailed a colorful flyer calling Caroline Wojtaszek a "fake Democrat" because she has made contributions to more GOP candidates than Democrats in recent years.
Caroline Wojtaszek said she went to Ohio to campaign for Barack Obama in 2008, but denied ever campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
The county Independence Party, which endorsed Caroline Wojtaszek, paid for a robocall taking Benedict to task for hiring former county Public Information Officer Christian W. Peck to work on his campaign.
Without using his name, the tape called Peck "a far right-wing disgraced operative who spews messages of violence and hate on Facebook."
Posting a news story June 1 about a Black Lives Matter protester being shot in Louisville, Peck wrote, "About damn time. Now more, please."
About damn time.Now more, please.
Posted by Christian W. Peck on Monday, June 1, 2020
"Mocking George Floyd's death. Is this a joke to Mike Benedict? It's disgraceful and his silence speaks volumes," the tape said.
Independence Chairwoman Susan Eberwein said she wanted the robocall to draw attention to the state of the campaign.
"This is not the way a judge race is done," Eberwein said. "It's disgusting, and it all goes back to Christian Peck."
The Benedict campaign has paid $3,000 to Peck's firm, Excelsior Strategies, plus $2,000 to Peck personally.
"Christian Peck is a hired graphic designer for the campaign along with three other separate graphic designers," said Benedict's campaign manager, former County Legislator Jason J. Cafarella. "Mike Benedict shares no political views with any of the hired help."
Peck did not respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, many voters received a letter signed by Simeon D. Mokhiber of Niagara Falls, who was convicted in 2017 of violating the state's SAFE Act gun control law for having three loaded 17-round magazines for a Glock pistol in his car.
A jury convicted Mokhiber of three felonies. He was granted a conditional discharge.
"Caroline Wojtaszek could have used her discretion. She wasn't required to prosecute me under the unconstitutional SAFE Act," Mokhiber's letter said.
Wojtaszek said Mokhiber was indicted before she became DA, but when the case came to trial, she instructed the prosecutor to make no effort to exclude Second Amendment supporters from the jury.
Mokhiber didn't respond to calls from The Buffalo News. His letter didn't say who paid for it.
“I had nothing to do with it, nor did anybody in my campaign," Benedict said.
Both candidates refused to give their views on the SAFE Act or the Second Amendment. Both said as judges they would take an oath to uphold the state's laws and the U.S. Constitution.
