How about showing a little decency?

Dana Balter during her 2018 campaign for Congress.

Note: I call your attention to a website making its debut today, senseofdecency.com, which offers an opportunity for writers, photographers and other artists to offer their words and images to help heal our divided nation. Please check it out and consider subscribing (it’s free) or contributing content. I am one of three co-founders. Thank you. 

Decency was put to the test in New York’s 24th Congressional District Democratic Party primary last month.

Decency won.

So did Dana Balter.

Her opponent, Francis Conole, sent at least seven campaign mailers, five of them containing attacks on Balter. The Auburn Citizen newspaper fact-checked one of Conole’s early mailers that claimed five national organizations had “refused” to endorse Balter. The newspaper labeled that false.

That didn’t stop Conole.

The attacks kept coming — Balter is “putting her own interests first” and “too risky” for the Democrats to put on the ballot in November.

But here’s the thing. Not only did Balter not counterattack, she asked her volunteers and supporters to refrain from going after Conole on social media. She wants her supporters to focus on what she stands for, rather than spend time and energy wrestling in the mud.

And she won — by such a large margin that Conole conceded defeat, even though 30,000 absentee ballots haven’t been tallied. After election night, Balter had 10,552 votes to Conole’s 5,810.

(Full disclosure: I volunteered on, and donated to, Balter’s 2018 campaign against incumbent John Katko, R-Camillus. Balter lost by 5 percentage points, a vast improvement over his previous Democratic opponents. I will volunteer again this year and have already donated this cycle.)

In his concession announcement June 25, Conole said he called Balter to congratulate her, adding “I’m very proud of the campaign we ran . . .”

What’s there to be proud of? Suddenly all Democrats are playing nice and promising a united front to defeat Katko in November — but does it really have to be dirty trick time until a front-runner is established? Why not show some class? If Conole runs again in two years, I certainly will remind voters of his cheap shots at Balter — and how they backfired in a big way.

Conole’s decision to enter the race cost Balter’s campaign time and money, but it also rallied her supporters well in advance of November. And her insistence on taking the high road revealed a lot about her character to anyone who didn’t follow her 2018 campaign. She truly cares about the people in our district — every single one of them — and refuses to take corporate PAC money, unlike Katko (who has endorsed Donald Trump for re-election).

Balter won’t get much of a respite from attacks as she tries to win back the NY-24 Congressional seat last held by a Democrat from 2013-15.

If the incumbent Republican’s snarky TV commercials, social media posts and debate performances in 2018 are any indication, decency will be exhibited by just one of the candidates.