BUFFALO—In the fall of 2007 this newspaper detailed the fact that a number of local candidates for public office have been financing the anti-gay web site politicswny.net. The site is mainly a collection of creative rumors and copyrighted articles that are cut and pasted from professional news gathering organizations. The site is operated by anti-gay activist Joseph Illuzzi.
2007 site statistics obtained by Outcome indicated that Mr. Illuzzi greatly inflates his vistitor numbers and also showed that visitors to the site did so using computers owned by state and local governments. Meaning what web traffic the site gets is mainly from people already involved in local politics.
Our analysis of the site in 2007 found that of the 26 elected officials that had advertising on the site only Congressman Brian Higgins and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt had stopped paying for the advertising and had written Mr. Illuzzi requesting that their advertisements be removed from the site in light of Mr. Illuzzi’s negative attacks on gay people. Illuzzi has thus far refused to remove the ads. Candidates financial reports indicated that ads on Mr. Illuzzi’s webs site can run as high as $5,000 per campaign season.
Illuzzi is well known for for his practice of insulting and bad mouthing candidates until they agree to advertise on his website. Advertisers are then rewarded with praise and endorsement.
Recently Illuzzi used his web site to embarass, slander and blackmail Hoyt. Illuzzi alleges that the emails stem from a extramarital relationship that Sam Hoyt was involved in several years ago. Those relationships did not involve any person that worked for Hoyt, Did not cross any laws or rule of the legislature. Hoyt had apologized to his family and has spent the past several years working to rebuild his family. The blackmail campaign was clear and obvious. Illuzzi was telling Hoyt to pay up and shut up or else.
A recent check of the politicswny.net website found that Illuzzi has placed an ad and link for Barbra Kavanaugh’s Assembly campaign. The Kavanaugh campaign July & August financial reports do not show any expenditures. The Albany Times Union reports that Mr. Illuzzi stated that he was paid $2000 for the Kavanaugh ad. Kavanaugh has told several news outlets that she has no knowledge of how the ad was placed on the Illuzzi site and that she had nothing to do with the blackmail campaign against Hoyt. —Tim Moran
