Four Democrats could square off in a primary over the late Louise Slaughter’s House of Representatives seat.
Yesterday was the deadline for House and Senate candidates to submit petitions to get on the ballot. Dr. Jim Maxwell, a neurosurgeon who lives in East Rochester, was the only Republican to file for the 25th Congressional District seat; he also submitted petitions for the Conservative and Reform Party lines.
The Democratic field is much more crowded. State Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle, Brighton Town Board member Robin Reynolds Wilt, City Council Vice President Adam McFadden, and former television journalist Rachel Barnhart all submitted petitions. Morelle, Wilt, and McFadden had previously announced their runs. Barnhart says she’ll formally announce her campaign next week. Morelle also submitted petitions for the Working Families, Independence, and Women’s Equality Party lines.
Candidates could be knocked out of contention if their petitions are challenged and the Board of Elections finds that the paperwork has insufficient signatures.
The 25th District covers all of Monroe County except the towns of Hamlin, Wheatland, Rush, and Mendon, as well as part of the town of Clarkson. Those areas are part of the 27th Congressional District, which is currently held by Republican Chris Collins.
Collins has filed to run for reelection, and he could face a primary challenge from Republican Frank Smierciak II, who also filed petitions. Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray is the only Democrat to file petitions for the seat. Larry Piegza, an entrepreneur from West Seneca, filed to run on the Reform Party line.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2018.
Clearly Ms. Barnhart has found a new career as Perpetually Failed Candidate for Office. By my count, this will be her third unsuccessful run for an office she is in no way qualified to hold. Perhaps she might consider getting her political hands dirty by starting at the local level by running for a town or school board?
I’m sure Louise Slaughter heard this same argument after she lost her first two races. Fortunately she had the fortitude to ignore people like you. Across the country this year, hundreds of women are stepping forward and running for Congress having never held prior elective office. This is a new wave and fortunately Rochester can join in by electing Ms. Barnhart. You are mired in a desire for politics as usual and donor controlled politicians. You are in a distinct minority. This year, in Rochester and across the country, voters will elect women who come from non-political careers because it’s the only way to achieve real change. I applaud Ms. Barnhart’s willingness to step forward and run. Voters will decide if she is the right choice. Not you Ms. Mitchell
Please list the qualifications for running for Congress.
And educate me on when Trump was on the school board or town council or a stare rep or a Congressman before becoming President.
Louise Slaughter had prior political experience before she ran for Congress. She was in the Monroe County Legislature in the mid-1970s and before that I believe she may have held political office in the town of Perinton or village of Fairport prior to that. Trying to convince people that Rachel Barnhart’s experience in running for office is somehow the same as Louise Slaughter’s experience is ridiculous.
What Rachel is trying to do is start at the top. She has zero experience managing people. She has zero experience holding a political office. And based on her earlier book, it is not clear that she can get along with people without having the proclivity to stab them in the back. If she wants to hold high political office, she needs to gain experience in a lower office first so she can prove she belongs there and voters can see what she actually does in political office.
City council would be a natural, but she sees this as beneath her because it is a part-time job and it doesn’t pay well enough to suit her needs. Maybe she’s afraid that serving there would expose her for what she really is which is a narcissistic opportunist ready to believe anything that Robert Scott Gaddy whispers into her ear. The only way she has a shot at Congress is if she can corner the anti-Morelle vote, and that is not going to happen as that vote will now be split three ways.
Jan and Animule – You two nailed it! Like Demagogue Donny, Barnhart figures that her name recognition and ego are sufficient credentials to run for high political office without having to start at the bottom like Louise and we other mere mortals. You have to wonder how many more times she (and her supporters) will have to get slammed down before she (and they) take the hint. Personally, it looks to me like Morelle in a walk.
Tom Kidera – I find your criticism of Jan confusing. No where did she say that she opposed Barnhart on grounds of gender. So why bring it up? It’s a red herring issue.
Why is it that when women run for office, they are puppets (Warren/Gantt, Nixon/Diblasio, Barnhart/Gaddy), vain, ambitious (Gillibrand) and ego-driven?
Morelle, a corporate Democrat who sold his soul, has actively worked to defeat women. He thinks he deserves this seat. He isn’t ego-driven?
All of the candidates are qualified and have their strengths. Barnhart has spent her life fighting people like Trump and exposing truth. Let’s not denigrate women because you don’t like them and think they don’t know their place. Have Democrats learned nothing?
Running for office takes courage. In NY24, two Democratic women are running who have never held office. One recently lost the mayoral race. Celebrate what they’re doing. Doing things the same way led to Trump.
Pretty sad that Rachel Barnhart’s supporters seem to feel that the only way they can counter the argument that she has no experience in government and should get some seasoning by first serving in local office, and hence should get her feet wet by serving on local office, is by throwing out the canard that she’s being opposed because of her gender. Try being honest guys. No one is opposing her on those grounds.
Mr. Spock: “Why is it that when women run for office, they are puppets (Warren/Gantt, Nixon/Diblasio, Barnhart/Gaddy), vain, ambitious (Gillibrand) and ego-driven?” As opposed to Calvin Lee and Adam McFadden who are puppets of Gantt, or County Clerk Bello, Irondequoit Supervisor Seeley and County Legislator Joe Morelle Jr., who are all proxies for Joe Morelle, who himself is a puppet for Andrew Cuomo, who in turn is a proxy of the Clintons? Nixon and Barnhart ARE puppets of DeBlasio and Gaddy; neither have any public service or policy experience aside from testifying before committees and reporting other public policy experts’ announcements. Maggie Brooks was a TV personality; she ran and won as a county legislator before being appointed (like Bello) as Clerk. Cheryl Dinolfo was an attorney and GOP activist before being appointed Clerk. Barnhart is flitting from primarying one candidate after another without concrete and coherent policy proposals; also rather than going head-to-head against a Republican in any contest (which she knows owing to her more-progressive-than-average views she would lose), she wants to fulfill the same role she did as a journalist, yipping at the heels of more credible candidates in her own party like a terrier, criticizing them for what she considers mistakes, while brushing off her own inexperience and hostile attitude as sexism. In any election but especially a primary, you have to convince people that the incumbent has failed in doing their job and that the time is for change; in neither the Assembly or mayoral race was Barnhart able to do that because it doesn’t exist. Both Bronson and Warren are doing relatively good jobs. Every public servant makes mistakes; Relich saying that I-Square is “failing” and Dinolfo failing to declare a travel ban during the Feb. 2016 blizzard among them. But simply yipping at an official that they failed, does not constitute a coherent rationale to vote them out. If it did, we would have Mayor Barnhart, spending money we don’t have like a drunken sailor on expensive liberal wish list policies; there’s a reason it’s called a wish list. Joe Morelle has dedicated more of his life to public service and authored more laws on child safety, the arts, biomedical and advanced manufacturing, health care and primary and secondary education funding before Rachel even graduated from high school. He will be an excellent successor to Louise Slaughter, another homegrown elected official who knew to start small to succeed.
Barnhart is quote flitting. No, this is not gendered at all! You reveal yourself with the language you use to describe her and other women.
Nixon, Barnhart, Perez-Williams, Balter and women all over the country are running for office based on their extensive life experiences. The two women candidates to replace Morelle have also never held elected office. Our founding fathers didnt want a class of ruling elites. To suggest women with degrees from Dartmouth, Cornell and Barnard, who have been engaged in their communities and impacted their communities, are not qualified is indeed gendered. To know that Democrats attack women in this way is sadly not surprising. Take off your pussy hat and look in the mirror.
When Barnhart was in high school, Morelle was forging petitions.
By the way, what women has Morelle mentored to get elected? What percentage of his staff is female and minority? Remember that time he told a woman he didnt believe she was raped and the guy went on to rape someone else? Elect the women.
And goodgrief, you sadly misunderstand journalism and its importance to democracy. It is a public service and it requires policy knowledge. Reporters like Barnhart demonstrate their depth every day.
It’s interesting that these comments are almost exclusively about Joe Morelle and Rachel Barnhart. I guess that means being well known is important.
Do some research and learn about the progressive candidate Robin Wilt.