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The day before Tuesday's Democratic primary Assembly District 125 election a flap between retiring NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and Anna Kelles, one of several candidates running for her seat. The flap erupted over a statement Kelles had issued after an ithaca.com story reported she had returned $4,500 in campaign donations due to ethics questions surrounding a letter supporting the City Harbor project that she sent to the Department of Transportation.

Kelles, considered the frontrunner, issued a statement denying unethical behavior, claiming that one of her opponents had maliciously released a copy of her letter and misconstrued its meaning.

"I was disturbed to learn that an email I sent to the regional Department of Transportation (DOT) in support of the developments along the Cayuga Inlet has been deliberately misconstrued. One of my opponents chose to share this email with the local press as an effort to disparage me. I want to share the facts," she wrote.

Later in her statement she wrote, "In late April 2020, both the City Harbor and the Cayuga Medical Center’s projects on the Inlet were threatened by a review published by the DOT. Both are projects that I support along with many others including Assemblymember Barbara Lifton, Senator Tom O’Mara, County Legislators Rich John and Martha Robertson, half of the Ithaca Common Council, including Seph Murtaugh, Ithaca City Mayor Svante Myrick, and Heather McDaniels, director of Tompkins County Area Development."

Lifton, who has endorsed candidate Jordan Lesser, took issue with Kelles' statement, saying that she had no involvement in the issue, and that she had not herself written a letter to the Department Of Transportation about the traffic plan issue, saying it would have been unethical to do so.

"I abhor the idea of inserting myself into the campaign at this late moment, but Kelles' unfounded and inappropriate statement that was just released about my position and work made it necessary for me to respond," she said.  She went on to say, "I am deeply troubled that she blurred the lines in her statement by making it sound as if I were involved in some way.  She says I supported the project.  She would have no way of knowing that, since I never made a statement to Ms. Kelles personally, nor have I issued any public statement about such support. Therefore it is most inappropriate for her to make that unsupported claim."

Kelles replied early Tuesday morning, noting that she is among many Ithaca City, County, and State elected officials and staff who support the project.

"I had been led to believe that Barbara Lifton had made her support public," she said. "As she has said that that is not the case, I sincerely apologize to her. For years, Lifton has been a strong voice representing Tompkins & Cortland, and has helped our area develop thoughtfully and I hope to follow in her footsteps, fighting for more affordable housing, access to medical care, and sustainability in Albany."

The waterfront projects are two that I and many other City, County, and State elected officials and staff have been supporting for the last 2 1/2 years,due to their combination of access to medical care, affordable housing, mixed use dense walkable development, and public recreation all built with innovative sustainability and dignity for all users.

"I had been led to believe that Barbara Lifton had made her support public. As she has said that that is not the case, I sincerely apologize to her. For years, Lifton has been a strong voice representing Tompkins & Cortland, and has helped our area develop thoughtfully and I hope to follow in her footsteps, fighting for more affordable housing, access to medical care, and sustainability in Albany," Kelles said.

Kelles appears to be winning the election, with 32.98% of the vote with 57 of 71 precincts reporting. But that could change after more than 7,000 absentee ballots are counted in Tompkins County alone. The tallying is further complicated because some voters who sent in absentee ballots also voted in person, invalidating there previous votes.

At this juncture Kelles is leading, followed by Seph Murtagh, Sujata Gibson, Jordan Lesser, Jason Leifer, Beau Harbin and Lisa Hoeschele. The deadline for receiving absentee ballots is June 30, so the official result will not be known until some time after that.

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