This is pretty funny. Remember this mailer that we reported on last fall? Courtesy of the state GOP, with Steve Minarik in charge at the time? Ok, keep that fact in mind as you read this, from the Messenger Post, on the race for the 10th district County Leg seat:

The Monroe County Republican Committee hasn’t announced a candidate for the 10th District Seat, but they’ve already come out swinging against the hours-old campaign of Democrat Ted Nixon of Pittsford.

Ted ran in 2005 and lost 55-45. The local GOP was so worried about the seat that had Maggie Brooks going door to door in Pittsford village. It’s no wonder they’re not wasting any time this cycle.

So what have they come out swinging with?

“Ted Nixon Found Guilty of Campaign Violations by Fair Election Practices Committee,” the fax reads. A 2005 ruling by the the Fair Election Practices Committee, a non-partisan body, was also attached. It detailed a Nov. 8 hearing which found Nixon had twice violated the Fair Campaign Pledge he and Smith had signed.

Whoa, that sounds pretty bad! What’s up with that?

According to Nixon, he mistakenly assumed during a newspaper endorsement interview with Smith that a recording was being made. It was not, but both candidates’ comments were not confidential.

In a political mailer later, Nixon cited Smith as having stated in that interview that there was a demand for jails and sheriff’s services, but no demand for social services.

So he made a rookie mistake, and got his hand slapped for it. Lesson learned:

“They didn’t find (the) quote inaccurate, just that there was no proof of it,” because there was no recording, Nixon said of the old ruling. “I plead totally guilty to being naive about the comment ‘on the record’ and what that meant. What happened was a very simple thing and I have a feeling people will understand that.”

Now this is the really funny part:

According to Minarik’s statements, however, Nixon is a “a political attack dog that will do and say anything to get elected.”

Steve Minarik. Attack dog extrordinaire.

Of course, it’s Minarik’s job to say those things, so HE can get GOP candidates elected. But those who’ve actually met Ted Nixon know he’s the opposite of Minarik– he’s a gentle, prinicpled man who cares enough about the community to step beyond a comfortable career and life to inject a little leadership into the county leg.

Make no mistake– Monroe County GOP head Minarik is back from his abysmal failure at the state level last year. He’s like a wounded dog, and ready to take it out on local Dems. To underestimate this is not a good thing.

But consider this: given that a lot of the folks in his district responded most to the idea that partisanship (especially at the County Leg) was a bad thing, Minarik’s attack dog ways may backfire.