The Onondaga County Democratic Committee on Friday withdrew its support for Joseph Price for sheriff because of concerns raised in a story in The Post-Standard. Diane Dwire, the committee chairperson, said the party will no longer “actively invest resources”’ toward Price’s candidacy because of admissions he made in the newspaper about comments on an Internet forum. The newspaper reported Friday...
The Onondaga County Democratic Committee on Friday withdrew its support for Joseph Price for sheriff because of concerns raised in a story in The Post-Standard.
Diane Dwire, the committee chairperson, said the party will no longer “actively invest resources”’ toward Price’s candidacy because of admissions he made in the newspaper about comments on an Internet forum.
Joe Price, Democratic candidate for Onondaga County sheriff.The newspaper reported Friday that more than 60 comments with racist, sexist and homophobic overtones were written on syracuse.com under Price’s user name — modman97 — last year. See previous coverage of Joe Price.
Price, 43, a jail deputy for 17 years, denied writing any of the comments when Dwire confronted him about them in April. When the newspaper asked him about the posts last week, Price admitted writing two that complained about affirmative action. He at first denied writing all the others, including a homophobic comment in June 2009. But Price admitted he wrote that comment after a reporter questioned him further.
As for all the other offensive posts, Price said someone else must have used his password or sat at his computer at work or home after he was logged on, then had written them without his knowledge.
“Mr. Price unequivocally denied to the chairperson his involvement in said postings during the candidate vetting process and in subsequent questioning,” Dwire wrote in a news release. “The Democratic Party has always been based on inclusiveness, equality and respect for all. The office of sheriff deserves credibility and integrity.”
Neither Dwire nor Price could be reached for comment Friday.
Price’s campaign co-manager, Alfonso Davis, said Thursday that Price did not admit to Dwire in April that he’d written some of the controversial posts for fear that Democratic leaders would assume he’d written them all.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that he lied,” said Davis, an African-American who became Price’s campaign manager this week. “I’d say he omitted giving all the information.”
The party designated sheriff’s Sgt. Toby Shelley as its candidate. But Price upset him in a primary last week to win the Democratic line in November’s election against Republican incumbent Kevin Walsh.
The Democratic Party doesn’t have the authority to remove Price’s name from the ballot, Dwire said. But the party does have the discretion of whether to provide its resources to candidates, she said.
In light of the revelations about Price’s postings, Shelley called on him to step down.
Under state law, the only way a nominated candidate’s name can be removed from the ballot is if he dies, is disqualified or declines the nomination, said John Conklin, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections. A disqualification would be for something such as moving outside the county. The time frame for declining the nomination has passed in this case, Conklin said.
“His name’s going to be on the ballot,” Conklin said. “He can hold a press conference and say ‘Don’t vote for me.’ But his name’s not going to come off the ballot.”
Davis complained Thursday that Democratic Party leaders had already done little to help Price. They still had Shelley’s picture on the wall at party headquarters, said Davis, who could not be reached Friday.
“Joe won the primary and the Democratic Party has one of two choices,” Davis said. “Either get behind the candidate that won and move on, or become the divisive party that they are becoming.”