Albany

Senate Democrats are crying foul over their Republican members' use of Facebook pages in which Democratic candidates in several races are being blasted in News Feed posts, which are then backed up by comments reinforcing the criticism.

Republicans said posting Facebook pages — and spending thousands to "boost'' readership — are fair game in the digital age.

"These are clearly coordinated efforts by professional campaign operatives,'' Schenectady County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Landry wrote in a letter this week to GOP Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Sen. Cathy Young, who heads the conference's campaign efforts.

"These forums for generating hate speech, malicious lies and threatening rhetoric have no place in political campaigns,'' he said.

Facebook pages do have a place, said GOP spokesman Scott Reif, who said using the social media site is a legitimate tool.

"When Senate Republicans communicate with voters we utilize many different tools, including social media, and yes we have spent resources to promote our members and our message on Facebook. Our policy is never to discuss internal strategy, even if doing so would disprove a bogus conspiracy theory floated by Senator Gianaris and the New York City Democrats," Reif said, referencing Landry's observation, which is backed up in campaign filings, that the GOP has spent some $28,000 on Facebook in the past several months. He was also referring to Queens Democratic Sen. Mike Gianaris who heads the Democrat's campaign effort.

While Reif said they never discuss "internal strategy," Facebook users can pay a fee to "boost" the visibility of their postings.

Precisely who put up the handful of pages is unclear. Rather than the state campaign committee, it could come from various GOP supporters. It appears to be coordinated, with the ads following the same visual template.

The dispute centers on several pages with "the REAL" before names such as Democratic candidates Terry Gipson, Adam Haber and others.

"The REAL Terry Gipson" page sports a photo of the Hudson Valley Democrat, who is seeking to retake a seat he lost to Republican Sue Serino in 2014.

The page references his support for taxpayer-funded college for illegal immigrants and prisoners, hot-button topics for many suburban voters who are tax-weary and struggling to fund their own children's tuition.

The "hate speech, malicious lies and threatening rhetoric," Landry speaks of is an apparent reference to another Facebook page aimed at 46th Senate District candidate Sara Niccoli.

The Democrat created a minor stir when she said she doesn't repeat the Pledge of Allegiance out loud because her Quaker faith precludes the swearing of oaths. She does put her hand over her heart when the Pledge is recited.

Comments on a page dubbed "The REAL Sara Niccoli'' included calls for Niccoli to leave the country. Another consisted of an emoji, or digital cartoonish image, of a gun.

That page has been taken down.

rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU