State election law unconstitutional

ALBANY — An election law that prohibited a political party from attacking or supporting candidates in another party’s primary was ruled unconstitutional on July 20 by a midlevel state appeals court. The ruling will allow political parties to try to influence another party’s primary election, the judges said, citing freedom of speech protections. In practice, major parties have preferred to let opposition party candidates attack each other and save campaign dollars for the weeks running up to the general election. A state judge had ruled in 2004 that the Working Families Party, an up-and-coming player on the state political scene, improperly intruded on the Democratic primary for Albany County district attorney by backing one of the candidates in the race. The candidate supported by the Working Family Party, David Soares, easily defeated incumbent Paul Clyne in the primary. Republicans, Clyne supporters and others challenged the Working Family Party’s support for Soares, arguing that under state election law a party must stay out of other parties’ primaries. “It is a great victory for the free speech of citizens and the free speech of political parties,” said Richard Brodsky, a Democratic Assemblyman who argued on behalf of the WFP. “Elections matter and the ability to speak in support of a candidate matters.”