BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Editor in Chief/Investigative Reporter
A few months ago, the Clarkstown Democrats held a forum for candidates for different offices. I was intrigued by their responses to the questions they were asked. Keeping with my newspapers motto of providing accurate and unbiased news and information, I asked the candidates if they would do interviews. A few weeks ago, I did what turned out to be a 2-hour interview with Peter Chatzky. I told him that it was going to be a hardball interview, he responded, “Bring it on.” So, I did. We covered a number of topics that are important to the constituents of the 17th Congressional District. The one area I NEVER would have ever thought that he had these types of posts in his past. He seemed like a straight up businessman, and local government official who wanted to be a congressman.
Chatzky put over $5 million of his own money into his campaign. His reason for doing this was that he came into the race late and needed an infusion of cash to get advertising out there for name recognition. He has gotten $194, 632.68 from ACTBLUE, as democratic supporting PAC (Political Action Committee) and 6,019,132.7 from individuals (which includes the $5.75 million he put into his campaign). This comes out to $269,142.70 from individual contributions.
Well, digging into someone’s past posts has become a way that people use to do what they hope they can use to destroy someone with what may have been acceptable when it was written, but is not now. Unfortunately for Chatzky, his past posts weren’t even acceptable when they were written. They were just ignored as “jokes” Now they are coming back to put a spanking on his campaign.
People have fantasies, which is normal. But publishing them on social media is not exactly a good idea, especially when you are in the public eye.
We must keep in mind the history of political campaigns coming to screeching halts due to scandals and for less than what Chatzky did. One key example is Gary Hart in 1984 after he told the press to follow him, he had nothing to hide. They did and they found an elicit extramarital affair he was involved in. So much for his presidential hopes. His campaign closed down shortly after this discovery.
When constituents were asked about this, one said “If he can be this oblivious to the effect this can have on people, then how can we expect him to not be oblivious to the effect of issues that he needs to vote on for the district?”
Another responded, “This is disgusting. To me is shows a lack of morals. It is definitely not becoming of someone I would want to represent me in congress and I’m a registered Democrat.”
During the Cavanaugh confirmation hearings, the Democrats were pushing the METOO movement in response to allegations made against him of rape and other things against women. They were all for believing the victims and prosecuting people who allegedly committed acts against them. They have called many Republicans misogynistic as well. Yet they put out posts like these.
RJ called this the epitome of hypocrisy.
These posts included “speculating about how much he would have to pay Melania Trump, the first lady, to have sex with him”, “whether he was too old to have an intimate relationship with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, then in their 20s”, how to “enhance breasts in photoshop”, and “jokes about sperm, masturbation and sexual arousal”.
If posting this stuff wasn’t bad enough, asking for responses to his speculations from his Facebook friends makes it worse.
One woman named Ann said, “I was on the fence as to who to vote for in the primary. This is definitely going to hurt his standing with women in the district. That in itself can derail his campaign. This will also add fuel to the campaigns of Phillips, Conley and Davidson. I am still on the fence, but Chatzky is out of the running for me. Now it’s between the other five candidates that I need to decide between.”
As a result of the Times story on this, people are calling for Chatzky to get out of the race for the Democratic Primary in NY-17 in June.
The calls came from one of Chatzky’s opponents, the Chair of the Democratic Party in Westchester, and one of the most powerful democratic interest groups.
Suzanne Berger, Chair of the Westchester Democratic Party is quoted in the NYT story, “He may be attempting humor, but red lights should flash when objectifying women or girls in service of a joke.”
Effie Phillips-Staley, one of six democrats seeking to challenge Lawler, called for Chatzky to end his campaign.
“The sexually charged and misogynistic posts by Peter Chatzky reveal a troubling lack of judgment and a crass objectification of women and girls. His statements are difficult to laugh off, especially when the Epstein scandal, Trump’s own past statements and the rise of toxic influencers like Andrew Tate are normalizing sexist and sexually abusive rhetoric.
“I have always maintained that while we are competing in the Democratic primary for NY-17, we must ultimately unite as a party to defeat the GOP in November. However, given the information that has come to light, I cannot in good conscience support or unite behind Mr. Chatzky as our nominee, should he win the Democratic primary.
“Furthermore, as part of the progressive movement, we have seen in recent congressional races how multiple progressive candidates have split votes, enabling corporate-backed, pro-war candidates to win. I believe it is incumbent on all progressive candidates to push for the optimal conditions that advance the electoral success of our movement for affordability, working people, social justice and equality.
“For all of these reasons, I am calling on Peter Chatzky to end his campaign for Congress.” said Phillips-Staley, who recently received the endorsement from the NYS Working Families Party.
Cait Conley’s camp was asked for comment and has decided not to comment on this issue right now.
WCLA-Choice Matters has been fighting to protect reproductive rights and supporting Pro Choice candidates since 1984, and their newsletter and voting guide, is sent to over 90,000 individuals. Their email blast, sent on March 24, excerpts from this email pointed out reasons they feel that he should drop out of the race.
Dear Friends,
In the over two decades that I have been at the helm of WCLA – Choice Matters, I have never before witnessed any Democratic candidate for any office so shamelessly and publicly sexualize and degrade women – until now.
Last week, the New York Times printed a scandalous exposé about New York’s Congressional District 17 Democratic candidate, Peter Chatzky and his fascination with sex and his objectification of women on his Facebook page. Now, as Chatzky plays the victim, issuing a pathetic apology, his friends and wife continue to dismiss his actions as boys-will-be-boys humor.
This is chronic male misogyny – not simply bad judgment.
Peter Chatzky has degraded women by making them sexual objects and the butt of jokes. Deplorable behavior like his perpetuates an oppressive cultural attitude.
Remaining silent or justifying Chatzky’s behavior as “locker room talk” dismisses his accountability. Normalizing misogyny creates a breeding ground for anti-woman behavior. It validates male entitlement and excuses discriminatory and even criminal actions against girls and women.
We have all watched the Epstein Files slowly unfold with the drip, drip of information being released. The men implicated are of different political parties and nationalities. The only things these men have in common is their gender, wealth and color – and that the people in the know remained silent – from the customs agents, to housekeepers, to pilots, to friends, to spouses…
Earlier this year, in a campaign ad, Chatzky threw a puppet in the trash – a puppet that was clearly female – and a Democrat. When called out, his response and that of his friends and spouse were the same: “Get over it. It wasn’t a big deal.” WRONG. It’s a very big deal and we will not get over it!
It’s time for Peter Chatzky to drop out and move on.
Sincerely yours, Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, President
The Chatzky campaign released the following statement. “Over the years, I made crude, over-the-line jokes on my personal Facebook page among close friends. They were stupid, they were inappropriate, and I own that completely. I regret offending anyone, and I sincerely apologize.
“But let’s be clear about what’s happening here. Rather than running on ideas, my opponents are mining two decades of social media posts because they’d rather talk about anything other than housing, healthcare, rising utility costs, and a broken political system. I’ve spent years doing the actual work — fighting for this community in real life, not in press releases. DC insiders and packaged candidates who answer to the party establishment, not the people, would love nothing more than to push me out of this race. They won’t.
“The voters of NY-17 deserve a candidate who shows up for them, and that’s exactly what I intend to keep doing,” stated Chatzky.