August 05, 2002 Mid Hudson Valley News

Orange GOP chairman endorses DuBois for sheriff

Saying his loyalty to the Orange County Republican Party is more important that any loyalty to a candidate that he feels committed wrongdoing, Chairman John Hicks yesterday endorsed challenger Carl DuBois in next Tuesday's GOP primary for sheriff.

Hicks said incumbent Sheriff Frank Bigger tried to "hijack" the Independence Party. "This is the kind of conduct on the part of Republican elected officials or candidates that I did not believe can be tolerated in the party," he said. "I thought the Republican Party could be better served in the long run by distancing ourselves from candidates who engage in those activities rather than to attempt to cover it up or stonewall those things until after an election is over and face them at some point in the future where our party would be permanently hurt."

Hicks said District Attorney Frank Phillips may want to look into what Hicks called the "attempted hijacking" of the Independence Party by Bigger and his supporters.

Harry Ross, the acting chairman of the Orange County Independence Party yesterday also endorsed DuBois, saying he is the best candidate for sheriff.

He, too, said Sheriff Bigger's supporters, many of whom were Republicans a year ago, carried Independence Party petitions and will become committee people of that party, effectively controlling it.