Four judgeships, four cross-endorsed candidates

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New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Norris. Photo provided.

Story updated 1:35 p.m. today.

A New York state assemblyman from Niagara County, who struck immunity from prosecution deals as part of criminal investigations in the past,  is in line for a new job as a state Supreme Court judge. 

Assemblyman Mike Norris, R-Lockport, said in an interview earlier this month that he intended to seek reelection this year, but the Niagara Gazette learned Wednesday that he is one of four state Supreme Court nominees cross-endorsed by Republicans and Democrats this week.

Niagara County Republican Committee Chairman Richard Andres confirmed Wednesday morning that GOP judicial delegates endorsed Norris as one of four candidates for state Supreme Court judge during a meeting Tuesday night at Chef’s restaurant in downtown Buffalo. Andres said the delegates also backed Republican incumbent Deborah A. Chimes, and incumbent Democrats Henry J. Nowak and Catherine Nugent-Panepinto, all from Erie County.

Democratic judicial delegates followed suit at their convention Wednesday evening.

As a result, there will be just four candidates on the November ballot for four open seats. If elected, the four candidates would serve 14-year terms. 

Andres cited Norris’ tenure as an assemblyman and as a partner in the Lockport law firm Seaman Norris LLP as factors in determining whether he would be a good fit to serve behind the bench. 

“The assemblyman is an accomplished lawyer and has been involved in that space for a long time, so with his experience in government we certainly felt he was fit for the job,” Andres said. 

When asked about Norris’ prior immunity deals, Andres said he was aware of “some issues” in his past while suggesting they have been “resolved.” 

Norris, 48, a Lockport attorney and former Niagara County Republican Party chairman, has served as the 144th District state assemblyman since 2016. 

The Niagara Gazette previously reported that he struck immunity deals with prosecutors on two separate occasions in the past, including a 2000 investigation that examined how Norris, Niagara County’s Republican elections commissioner at the time, and his Democratic counterpart, Judith Cirifalco, continued to collect full pay despite an earlier vote by county lawmakers to cut their pay by 10 percent.

In that case, Cirifalco and Niagara County Legislator James Ward were charged with misdemeanors while Norris was not charged because he was granted immunity from prosecution by the district attorney’s office. 

There was a second investigation in 2017. That year, as head of the Niagara County Republican Party, Norris received a subpoena seeking information from an Albany County grand jury about a probe into a so-called “pass-through scheme” involving funds from the campaign committee of former state Sen. George Maziarz. Prosecutors alleged that Maziarz’s campaign funds were secretly funneled to former state Senate staffer and Niagara County lawmaker Glen Aronow after his dismissal from Maziarz’s office following accusations from a female co-worker who claimed Aronow sexually harassed her.

Norris was not charged in that case.  

In 2019, multiple news outlets, including the Niagara Gazette and Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, reported that Maziarz accused Norris of taking  part in an effort to steer a lucrative Niagara County grant-writing contract to individuals with ties to another former Niagara County GOP Chairman, current Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek. He denied the charge.

“Jeff Glatz, the Niagara County manager, and Wojtaszek are very close,” Norris said as part of statements made to the FBI that were provided to local news outlets by Maziarz in 2019. “Glatz is from North Tonawanda. Wojtaszek told Glatz to put a Request for Proposal (RFP) together for a new grant writer for Niagara County. Wojtaszek told Glatz that they needed to get Winter (Four Points Communications) in there.”

Due to a conflict of interest with prosecutors in Niagara County, Maziarz’s allegations of bid-rigging were investigated by Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley, who determined in July 2020 that no criminal charges were warranted in the case. In a letter announcing her decision, Doorley noted that while she considered the consulting practices of the grant-writing company Four Points Communication to be “suspect,” they did not “rise to the level to warrant criminal prosecution.”

Again, Norris himself was not charged.

In response to questions about his prior immunity deals, Norris has noted that he was not the target of any of the probes and that he cooperated and answered questions from law enforcement while stressing that he was never personally charged.

Andres said none of those issues were deal breakers for local Republicans and that, having known Norris for quite some time, he believes he had the temperament and the knowledge necessary to be a fair jurist. 

“His experience certainly was relevant to being a judge,” Andres said. 

The Niagara Gazette spoke with a staff member from Norris’ office Wednesday afternoon, however, Norris didn’t respond to questions.

Norris and the three other candidates are being chosen for state Supreme Court posts under New York’s often-criticized system of using judicial delegates to choose which candidates for judge appear on the November ballot.

Judicial delegates are elected by their respective parties in each county during the June 25 primary election. The delegates gather for judicial conventions where they endorse the candidates that will appear on the general election ballot for state Supreme Court positions. 

Because it is a weighted voting system, Erie and Niagara counties, the largest counties by population in the Eighth Judicial District, have the most delegates, giving their party leaders greater influence over the decision-making process. 

The “cross-endorsement” process has been criticized for decades for being a closed process that enables party bosses, not voters, to control the process of endorsing candidates and, in some cases, limiting the options for the voting public. 

In 1989, the New York Commission on Public Integrity decried the system controlled by political leaders as clashing with the “fundamental objective of an independent and nonpartisan judiciary” while arguing that New York “can and must do better.”

“His experience certainly was relevant to being a judge,” Andres said. 

Andres said Norris previously had secured a place on the November ballot for reelection to his Assembly seat. In light of Norris’ endorsement as a candidate for judge, Republican and Conservative party chairs from Niagara and Erie counties, parts of which are contained in the 144th state Assembly district, will decide who to endorse as Norris’ replacement on the ballot for Assembly, according to Andres. He said he has a few choices in mind, however, no decisions have been made.

“We’re in the process of discussing what that looks like, who’s going to be interviewed and how that’s going to play out,” Andres said.

Garrett Looker