GOP congresswoman’s campaign says opponent linked to mob

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The campaign of a Republican congresswoman from upstate New York is seeking to tie her Democratic challenger to organized crime, warning staffers to beware to strangers following them or tampering with locks.

U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney faces state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi in a closely watched congressional race.

In a memo sent to campaign staffers last month, a senior adviser wrote about the Brindisi family’s “thuggish” past. The memo encouraged workers not to go out alone at night and to be aware of their surroundings.

There have been no reports of suspicious activity.

Brindisi’s father is an attorney who decades ago represented individuals linked to organized crime in Utica. The younger Brindisi dismissed the Tenney memo as an attack on Italian Americans and the desperate move of a failing campaign.