For the second time in as many months, Suffern mayor Dagan Lacorte has been removed from the Democratic primary ballot in the race for Rockland County Executive.
The news—released Wednesday afternoon—comes less than one month before the hotly-contested Sept. 10 primary gauntlet. Local Democrats are seeking the opportunity to take on Republican candidate Ed Day.
Lacrote was first knocked off the ballot in July, when a number of the signatures he collected were deemed invalid by the Rockland Board of Elections. His dismissal came on the heels of a complaint by David Fried, a fellow Democrat and current candidate.
Lacorte then fell below the required number of signatures—which hovers around 2,000—and lost his chance to do battle against other Dems.
After an appeal process and trip to the Supreme Court, however, a spate of signatures were added back—and Lacorte re-entered the race.
But a decision passed down from the courts Wednesday has once again knocked Lacorte off the ballot.
"The Supreme Court erred in denying the motion to dismiss the proceeding to validate the petition designating Dagan Lacorte as a candidate in the primary election to be held on September 10, 2013," a release from the Supreme Court's appellate division reads.
Judges note Lacorte failed to identify which signatures he felt were unfairly invalidated.
In a tweet sent out Wednesday afternoon, Lacorte said he plans to address the issue at a press conference on the steps of the Rockland County Courthouse.
In July, senator David Carlucci expressed his support for Lacorte.
Democratic county executive hopeful Vladimir Leon was also removed from the ballot for a flawed petition.
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