The Rockland County campaign season is nothing if not colorful, where every silver lining has its own dark cloud.

Rockland County Executive hopefuls have been maneuvering lately behind the scenes, with nominating petitions under review at the County Board of Elections, recent fundraising results reported and endorsements wrangled.

On Monday morning, the sun shone on Suffern Mayor and Democratic County Executive candidate Dagan Lacorte as he stood in front of the County Courthouse in New City while he received the strong endorsement of NY State Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland and Westchester). Sen. Carlucci cited several reasons for his support of Lacorte, including the Suffern Mayor’s “independent leadership” and his effort to “restore financial responsibility to county government and protect taxpayers.”

Carlucci’s move was big and bold as it comes before the Democratic primary this September 10, which pits Lacorte against longtime Rockland Legislator Ilan Schoenberger and former judge David Fried. Carlucci put skin in the local game when he could have remained on the sidelines, and as a key player in pushing Rockland issues front and center in the state capitol in Albany, Carlucci’s endorsement is powerful medicine.

One of the top Democrats in the county, Carlucci has earned popularity and acclaim as an independent voice that has no qualms bucking the power structure in the name of his constituents. His endorsement gives Lacorte a chunk of credibility heading into the fall primary.

Then just as quickly as the recent Rockland thunder caps that moved through, Laura Incalcaterra reported in LoHud Monday night that the petition challenge against Lacorte’s voter signatures could KO the candidate before he even gets to climb into the political ring.

Democratic opponent David Fried has filed challenges to 3,337 of Lacorte’s 4,435 ballot petition signatures on grounds that range from some signatures are from non-Democratic Party members, to some may not be Rockland residents, to some of the witnesses were not with the Democratic Party to some possibly being forged signatures. Fried was able to disqualify another Democratic candidate with ballot petition challenges, political newcomer Vladimir Leon.

Leon said that he “didn’t accept” the Rockland County Board of Elections ruling and that he was “denied opportunity” by Fried’s challenge.

To qualify for the September Democratic primary for County Executive, a candidate must have 2000 valid signatures, according to county Election Board’s rules.

Lacorte spokesman Cristobal Slobodzian issued a sharply worded statement that said, “David Fried’s is the last gasp of a discredited politician, and the latest desperate attempt to disenfranchise Democratic voters in this election is fooling no one. Let the voters decide for themselves, not party bosses, and political insiders.”

There were more Fried fireworks Monday when Jacob Kornbluh writing for The Yeshiva World News filed a scathing insider report where one source related to U.S. Representative  Nita Lowey (D-NY 17th District) blasted Fried’s campaign as a “disaster.” Fried served briefly as an assistant for Congresswoman Lowey.

Kornbluh wrote that Lowey reportedly told a Rockland Democrat at a political event “that Fried is undisciplined and has been trying to take every side of every issue to get elected.” The article reported that Lowey believed she had made a mistake to endorse so early in the county executive race and was pulling back her support for Fried because she didn’t “want to be embarrassed when he went (Fried) down.”

With deep connections inside the Rockland political establishment, Schoenberger is considered by some to be the unacknowledged choice of the Democratic party. So, Carlucci’s Monday morning endorsement promotes an independent voice in Rockland politics. Lacorte has been vocally hammering away on various issues that align with Carlucci, including United Water’s recent rate hike application.

It remains to be seen if Carlucci’s bright ray of support for Lacorte will be enough to chase away the dark clouds of Fried’s petition challenge.