Opponents of Chris Jacobs, the state senator from Erie County running for the vacated NY-27 congressional seat in a special election Tuesday, and in a GOP primary for the same seat on the same day, have jumped on news reports accusing Jacobs of registering to vote and voting at a residence in Orchard Park that he did not own and was not living in at the time.
The house is his current residence.
A spokeswoman for the Erie County District Attorney's Office confirmed this evening that the office did receive a complaint about Jacobs but said, in reference to a FOIL request for documents, the office had "no documents responsive to the request."
While one of Jacobs' opponents said Jacobs was now the subject of a "criminal investigation," the spokeswoman indicated there was no such investigation currently but that the matter was "under review."
Nate McMurray, running against Jacobs in the NY-27 special election, and Beth Parlato and Stefan Mychajliw., running against Jacobs in the GOP primary, all issued statements attacking Jacobs for "voter fraud."
Jacobs, in turn, called the attacks, "a desperate political stunt."
Here are his statement and the statements of the other three candidates.
Jacobs:
"This is nothing more than a desperate political stunt made by someone who is about to lose an election. My wife and I went under contract to purchase our home in Orchard Park on June 17th of 2019 and closed on our home on September 30 of 2019.
Desperate attacks by political opponents are not surprising – sadly they have become a standard part of politics.
We are grateful to the thousands of volunteers and supporters who have helped put us in position for a victory on Tuesday and we are looking forward to getting to work for the people of Western New York.”
Mychajliw:
“Chris Jacobs said Chris Collins would be ineffective due to the criminal investigation hanging over him. With a pending investigation by the Erie County District Attorney into potential criminal misconduct, Chris Jacobs should apply his own standard to himself. The District Attorney will pass judgement upon Chris Jacobs, and so will voters in Tuesday's Primary Election."
Parlato:
"I got in this race 11 months ago because we cannot trust career politicians.
Chris Lee resigned in disgrace. Chris Collins resigned in disgrace and is heading to prison. Now, Chris Jacobs has not even made it to Congress yet, and he is under criminal investigation.
The last thing we need is another career politician embarrassing our district and bringing shame to the hardworking, honorable people of NY-27. We deserve better.
We need to bring integrity back to this seat.
I am calling on Chris to put the people first, to do what is right, and remove his name from both the special election and primary ballots."
McMurray:
Western New Yorkers were shocked to learn endorsed Republican candidate for the NY- 27 Congressional District Chris Jacobs was called out for alleged voter and election fraud.
The Erie County District Attorney received a complaint against Jacobs including the following allegations: that Jacobs was registered to vote in the Orchard Park District before owning his home, that he voted from the newly registered home less than 30 days before owning the home, and that he filed primary residence documents that he lived within the 27th District before doing so.
Democratic congressional candidate Nate McMurray joined Republican candidate Beth Parlato in calling for Jacobs to pull out of the race.
“After so much corruption here on the 27th, we now have another endorsed Republican candidate who appears to be lying to the voters already. He has high paid consultants. This was no accident. It’s fraud.
The people of this district cannot afford another entitled and detached millionaire. He’s proving he’s nothing more than that, and he shouldn’t be in office. I call on Chris Jacobs to do the right thing and drop out of this race,” said Nate McMurray.
