I noticed something I thought was strange at last week’s meeting of three east-side Democratic committees. The committees were making their endorsements for mayor, City Council, and City Court.
A couple of the ballots in the mayor’s race between incumbent Tom Richards and challenger Lovely Warren came in blank. Why bother to turn them in at all, I asked, if you don’t like either candidate?
A committee member said he thought the blank ballots were a protest. Richards is a “late in life” Democrat, joining the party in 2010 prior to his first mayoral run. And his corporate background doesn’t exactly scream “proud Progressive.”
Warren’s background may fit the Democratic mold better than Richards’ — she’s a lifelong Democrat who endured a hardscrabble upbringing in northeast Rochester — but she’s at odds with the party on a key issue: same-sex marriage. Asked her opinion on SSM, Warren responded tersely at the convention that SSM is the law in New York State and she would follow the law. At a time when even an increasing number of Republicans are “coming out” for SSM, Warren’s response seemed off-key.
Could a perceived lack of “real” Democrats in the mayor’s race keep some Dems at home when it comes time to vote in September? Your guess is as good as mine.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2013.
You should have mentioned that Richards’ mentor, our current Jr. Assistant Gov., Bob Duffy, was a life-long Republican who turned his coat to run for mayor, proving once again the old adage, “All it takes to be mayor of Rochester is a pulse and a Democratic party card….and the pulse is optional”.
But more important is the point being overlooked here. Namely that it’s the quality of the candidate that’s important, not the quality of the candidate’s party membership. And since the day Tom Ryan left office the quality of Rochester’s mayors has dropped percipitously.
In my opinion, Rochester should thank God for Tom Richards. Not for nothing but look at any northeast city run by ‘real’ Democrats. Cesspits starting from city hall down to the street level. Rochester has its problems but at least our mayor is frank, thoughtful, & putting forward some sensible ideas.
The race for mayor is lacking Democrats brave enough to talk about real issues. To find out what the true issues are, voters will need to listen to Green Party candidate Alex White.
This is simply a symptom of decades of one party control in Rochester. The Democratic primary is the only election that matters, so you get either ‘fake’ Democrats like Tom Richards, who would be a Republican in any other town in Monroe County, or machine Democrats like Lovely Warren, who have no real convictions other than what it takes to win the Democratic primary. She switched her rhetoric on same-sex marriage ASAP after the grumbling started, proving she will say whatever she thinks voters want to hear. We need a genuine electoral alternative in Rochester. We need to start holding Democrats accountable for their decades of uninterrupted Imperial dominance in City Hall. What has it brought us? Whether we get a ‘fake’ Dem like Richards or a machine Dem like Warren, Rochestarians lose. We need viable alternatives if we want to have any chance of creating a prosperous future for ALL Rochestarians.