Nicole Katz, wife of Assemblyman Steve Katz, said she was unfriended and blocked on Facebook (META) by State Senator Greg Ball yesterday after writing a critical comment on one of his wall posts. The Katz’s have supported Senator Ball in the past and donated $3,000 to his senate campaign last year. “I am a constituent, he is my senator and I have a right to express my opinion on his page,” Ms. Katz told Politicker today.
Ms. Katz said the Facebook fracas began after she commented on a post where Senator Ball announced he would be making a statement about Governor Cuomo’s tax plan.
“Thank G-d there’s grid lock in DC. If not for the new Republicans in the House, Obama would get evrything [sic] he wants through,” Ms. Katz wrote.
Ms. Katz said she says her response was provoked by earlier updates from the senator criticizing Congressional Republicans.
“Recently he’s been making many references to the Republicans in Congress for not being able to reach across the aisle,” said Ms. Katz.
Senator Ball, who represents the 40th District in Westchester County, posted a response to Ms. Katz. “Just saying ‘no’ because someone tells you to do so, is never a good policy (left or right),” he wrote.
“The next thing I know, I’m unfriended and blocked,” Ms. Katz said.
Senator Ball is a Republican, but Ms. Katz said he’s made a few recent Facebook updates that conflict with conservative principles.
“The only thing other thing he could have banned me for is that I disagreed with his aggressive anti-fracking campaign, but I’ve never been rude,” Ms. Katz said.
Ms. Katz told us she hasn’t discussed the situation with the senator.
“I’ve been blocked from his page so I can’t send him a message,” said Ms. Katz.
She did, however, tell her husband, Assemblyman Katz, about the incident.
“He was surprised that the senator would ban me from his page, especially over something so minor,” Ms. Katz said.
Ms. Katz expects she will run into Senator Ball sometime soon and plans to confront him about the unfriending.
“I would ask him for an explanation and I would say that it’s rather important as an elected official that he ecncourage free speech,” said Ms. Katz. “Facebook is a forum for free ideas.”
As of this writing, neither Senator Ball or Assemblyman Katz have responded to a request for comment on this story.
