A Republican official in New York has condemned his own party while announcing that he is leaving the GOP, citing the party’s abhorrent behavior.
In his announcement, Benny Zlotnick, a town supervisor in Milton, NY who describes himself as “a Republican since the day I could vote,” said he can no longer ‘stomach’ being associated with the Republican party, according to The Times-Union.
“The town supervisor, who changed his party affiliation on Wednesday, said he can no longer abide by the town’s GOP leadership after it snubbed him for the upcoming November election and instead endorsed a controversial former town supervisor, Scott Ostrander,” reported Wendy Libertore. “Zlotnick beat Ostrander to win the supervisor’s race in 2019 and plans to seek reelection.”
The report notes that Zlotick also has increasing ideological grievances with the party: “Zlotnick was also disappointed by how Republicans reacted when he put up a gay pride flag last year during Pride Month. ‘Republicans posted (on social media) to tear it down,’ Zlotnick said. ‘I can’t be a member of a party that feels that way.'” The pride flag was stolen from the pole twice.
Thanks to New York’s complicated “fusion voting” laws, Zlotnick — despite being a Republican — ran without the GOP ballot nomination last election, but held ballot lines from the Conservative, Independence, Democratic, and “Moving Milton Forward” parties. This time, he will seek the Democratic and Moving Milton Forward lines, the report states.
