City Council Member Jack Ortiz’s appointment as the Democratic Monroe County Elections Commissioner was blocked Tuesday night by her own party.
The Board Of Elections has both a Republcan and a Democratic commissioner who are responsible for overseeing elections. Normally BOE commissioners are nominated and their approval is rubber stamped by both parties. But this time, five Democrats who share political allegiance with Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren split from the rest of the caucus and said they would not vote for Ortiz. Republicans said they would not vote for Ortiz if the Democrats were not united in her support, so the legislature declined to consider the appointment.
Ortiz was nominated by a vote of the Monroe County Democratic Committee last month.