HE’S THE I GUY: Now David Fried says HE’S receiving the ‘I’ line in county exec race

Sources from within county executive candidate David Fried’s camp have assured the Rockland County Times that the Democratic nominee expects to receive the official endorsement of the Independence Party on Monday, and not Suffern Mayor Dagan LaCorte, as was speculated in the Rockland County Times this week. Fried said the official endorsement is being handed down from Albany leadership, thus giving him the ‘I’ line in the November election, usually worth a good 3 percent of the vote or so.

Previously this week GOPer Ed Day said he was not interested in receiving the line and criticized Legislator Ilan Schoenberger for dropping off the ballot via the legal maneuver of running for judge. LaCorte had been interested in the line partially because he had raised more campaign money from certain donors than permitted for a primary run and needed a means of spending it, lest he be forced to returns tens of thousands of dollars in donations. It also would have been a means for the maverick candidate to continue to push his ideas for government reform and to gain some revenge against David Fried, the man who forced him from the ballot due to election technicalities.

The final lineup for the November election has GOPer Ed Day running on the Republican and independent Preserve Rockland ticket, while David Fried will be appearing on the Democratic, Independence (unconfirmed) and Working Families lines. Tom Sullivan has received the Conservative Party nomination and no significant write-in candidates have been announced. Democratic primary write-in candidate Vladimir Leon announced this week he will not be campaigning for the November election and LaCorte has made no indication that he intends to wage a write-in campaign, either.