On Wednesday, Gossips reported on the race for alderman in the First and Third wards. In both wards, for the two seats on the Common Council, there is only one viable candidate listed on the ballot. Gossips reported at the time that Margaret Morris had launched a write-in campaign in the First Ward. Today, Gossips reported that Shershah Mizan had announced on Friday that he was running a write-in campaign for reelection in the Third Ward. Both candidates who are not running but whose names still appear on the ballot have been replaced.
Oddly, late this afternoon, with two candidates already declaring their intention to replace the two candidates on the ballot, the Hudson City Democratic Committee posted this on Facebook:
INTERESTED IN RUNNING FOR COMMON COUNCIL?
If you live in the First or Third Wards, consider running a write-in campaign for the Common Council in the upcoming election on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021!
Hudson Ward Alders sit on the Common Council which has the authority to govern the City, manage its affairs and provide for the protection, security and welfare of the City, its inhabitants and their property. The Common Council has the power to make local laws and ordinances to insure the well-being and good order of the City.
One of the First and one of the Third Ward candidates currently on the ballot will not be able to take office due to recent employment conflicts. It is too late to change the ballots, so if elected, the Council will appoint representatives of its choosing in January when their term begins. However, it's NOT too late to mount a write-in campaign, to give the voters of the First and Third Wards an opportunity to select their own representation.
The Hudson City Democratic Committee encourages registered Democrats in those wards to contact us if you'd like our help promoting your write-in campaign. Please send direct messages by 5PM EST Thursday, October 14th to info@hudsoncitydemocrats.org. Feel free to call Kate Treacy, the Chair of the HCDC, at 917-344-5153 with any questions or to discuss further. We look forward to hearing from interested candidates!
Why is the HCDC making this appeal now, less than two weeks before early voting begins, when absentee ballots have already gone out, and after two candidates--one in the First Ward and one in the Third Ward--have announced their write-in campaigns? It's been known since July that there are two candidates on the ballot--Gary Purnhagen in the First Ward and Calvin Lewis in the Third Ward--who, because of employment, are not viable candidates. Why is the HCDC only now appealing for write-in candidates? Can it be they are not happy with the two write-in candidates who have declared--Margaret Morris in the First Ward and Shershah Mizan in the Third? This seems odd, since one of them, Mizan, is a member of the HCDC.
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ReplyDeleteThis shouldn't strike anyone as surprising. The HCDC was a dysfunctional mess before Kate Treacy took the role as chair, and it's only gotten worse under her tenure. If the Committee wanted to send notice out to solicit write-in candidates, it should have done so months ago, not a little over three weeks until Election Day. These vacancies on the ballot have existed for months. Kind of reminds me of the poorly planned and executed Shared Streets plan for this year, whose rollout was organized by Tourism Board member...[checks notes]...Kate Treacy.
ReplyDeleteI've heard from multiple winners of the Democratic primary that the HCDC made no effort to contact them, provide funding or outreach for the general, or coordinate GOTV efforts. Last local cycle, Dorothy Heyl, after draining the committee account to provide money for her husband's campaign with the promise she would send out material supporting all primary winners on a mailer, went so far as to omit one primary winner on the sample ballot and replace them with the Working Families candidate. Confronted with this, Dorothy insisted there were multiple file versions that were correct and obviously a simple mistake was made. She offered to send the file, but when I mentioned we'd like to check the metadata to track document changes and ensure the veracity of her statement, she balked.
There are many, many issues with this iteration of the Democratic committee, but the long and short of it is, with few exceptions, they have done nothing for the Democrats of Hudson or the community at large, instead representing a few (often extremely unqualified) elected officials.
So how exactly will this all play out? Hypothetically - if say 2 people "write in" someone - and there are no other "write ins" does that "write-in" win since no one is actually running? And if that is the case - the Common Council won't be able to just appoint someone to fill that seat?
ReplyDeleteFair question. The top two vote getters on Nov 2 get the seats. Right now, Calvin Lewis (who resigned from the Common Council after the ethical conflicts over his position at the Youth Department) and Ryan Wallace (who has done an admirable job as his replacement thus far) are the listed candidates on the Dem line.
ReplyDeleteSince Lewis has resigned, he will presumably not take the seat in the unlikely event that he wins the November ballot (I don't think voters' memories are that short.) In the scenario Calvin won one of the seats, it would go to the Common Council to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.
If a write-in candidate gets more votes than Lewis, the seat would go to them. Should they refuse to be sat, the can would once again be kicked to the Common Council. Notably, it does not take much. If ten people write in for Third Ward resident Adele and nine people write in for Third Ward resident Taylor Swift, Adele wins. (Adele always wins.)
Unless one of the winners was challenged on residency status or some such (you have to be a resident of the ward on Election Day), the seat would be theirs to take. If they refused, it goes to the Common Council. Too many write-in candidates might muddy the waters and allow a mediocre candidate with a built-in base of support to pull ahead.
Get ready for more mediocre.
DeleteMediocrity would be a step up for this Common Council, but there are some fresh new faces and a bit of hope on the horizon.
DeleteConsider Margaret Morris for a First Ward write-in and John Friedman as a Third Ward write-in. Both would be excellent additions to the Common Council.