The New York Republican Party has criticized Democratic candidates for both state and federal office this year for not blasting Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his role in securing more than $100,000 in settlement money for the alleged sexual harassment victims of Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

Today the GOP took their criticism a step further, blasting Democratic Assemblywoman Didi Barrett for taking money from the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, the chief fundraising arm of the Assembly majority.

The party says Democratic candidates are “mindful” of what happens when they step out of line after the attempt coup by Syracuse Assemblyman Michael Bragman 12 years ago.

Bragman was stripped of his leadership post in the chamber and later left the Legislature as a result of the coup attempt.

From the Republican statement today:

The freshman Assemblywoman won a special election earlier this year and has since been the beneficiary of over a quarter of a million dollars of DACC cash. Put in perspective, that’s over five times the total amount that she spent on her special election campaign earlier this year.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do nothing. When members of the Assembly like Didi Barrett refuse to stand up to Silver for fear of political blowback, the culture of corruption flourishes, and women in Albany pay the price.

To be fair, the attempted leadership challenge via Bragman did force Silver to reassess his leadership style and appoint more upstate lawmakers to leadership positions.

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