STATEN ISLAND — Richard Luthmann has officially bowed out of the race to become Staten Island borough president.
On Wednesday, the New York State Court of Appeals affirmed previous rulings that Luthmann hadn't collected enough signatures to make it onto the ballot. Luthmann said he will no longer fight the decision, the Staten Island Advance first reported.
“Given the ruling by the courts I am no longer a candidate for the Democratic Party for Staten Island Borough President,” Luthmann said in a statement.
“However, I am not finished fighting for the causes that I believe in and the causes that the voters I met with wanted to hear more about.”
Even though Luthmann could go to federal court to try and get back on the ballot, he said he had decided not to.
Luthmann was kicked off the ballot in July after the Board of Elections ruled he did not have enough signatures on his petition to run. Last week, he went to the state appellate court to fight the decision, but they upheld the BOE’s decision.
“As a lawyer I wanted to pursue every legal option available to me,” he said. “My legal curiosity probably drove the last month of my campaign more than my political ambitions.”
With Luthmann out of the race, there will be no primary for the Democratic spot and the party’s pick, Lou Liedy, will run against Republican James Oddo for the spot, which is being vacated by James Molinaro.