The cross-endorsement was by no mean unprecedented. Toni Hokanson, the incumbent Democrat Zimet trounced at caucus two weeks previous, was endorsed by Republicans for a third term in 2009. But this year, things were different. With Hokanson on their ticket, Republicans believed they had a chance to elect a supervisor or — better in the eyes of some — to run the Zimet steamroller off the road. A Hokanson-Zimet contest in November might have been a tossup.
Still seething that the “hideous dark side” had delivered archenemy Zimet to his ticket, town GOP Chairman Butch Dener admits to at least a tactical error on caucus night. Zimet defeated local attorney Peter Cordavano by a single vote, 28-27, with Hokanson coming in with just 15. In three-way races when one candidate fails to achieve a majority — Zimet got 40 percent of votes cast — the usual procedure is for the third person to drop out with another vote taken between the two survivors. Dener, caught in the “shock” of Zimet’s nomination, said he didn’t think of that.
Would Zimet have beaten Cordavano in the runoff? We’ll never know. Would Cordavano have beaten Zimet in the November elections, in a town with an overwhelmingly Democratic enrollment? Probably not.
As a footnote, Dener emphatically denies that the GOP plan going in was to nominate a stalking horse (Cordavano?) who would in a day or two upon reflection decline the nomination, thereby allowing a town committee on vacancies to name Hokanson, the only viable candidate, as the party choice.
“You must be talking to a lot of liars if you’re hearing that,” Dener said.
In my job, it’s an occupational hazard.
As for Savago, his alliance with Zimet is nothing new. This odd couple has teamed up on many a town issue over the years. Delivering her the Republican nomination was for GOP diehards a bit much, however.
Garbage time
City politicians, caught up in the heat of primaries in both parties, didn’t seem to pay much attention to outgoing Mayor Jim Sottile’s pronouncement that he’d have to eliminate garbage pickup in Kingston in order to balance the 2012 budget.
Residents took note. Many are angry.
