The victory revived the candidacy of Cross, who two days earlier had finished a close third, behind Wenk and Panza, in the Democratic primary. With party endorsements now finalized, voters in the November 8 general election will choose either Wilber, the nominee of the Democratic and Working Families parties, or Rose, running on the Republican and Common Sense lines, as the next town supervisor. The Town Board contestants will be Wenk (Democratic, Working Families), Panza (Democratic, Republican), and Cross (Republican).
“This will be a very interesting campaign. A lot of non-Republicans have expressed interest in backing me,” said Rose, a member of the town’s planning board, in an interview after the GOP caucus, which drew a standing-room-only crowd to Town Hall. Rose, an unenrolled (unaffiliated) voter who did not seek the Democratic nomination, is a lifelong Woodstock resident who is seeking elective office for the first time. His opponent, Wilber, and the three Town Board candidates are all registered Democrats.
Said Wilber, who served four terms as supervisor, from 2000 to 2007, “I have made seven previous appearances before the Republican Party. This is the first time that my nomination has been rejected, but my affection for the party has not dwindled.” In a sporting gesture following the vote for supervisor, Wilber proposed that Rose’s nomination be made unanimous by acclamation, which it was.
Cross, a member of the Planning Board and the town’s wetlands inspector — positions he would have to relinquish should his Town Board candidacy succeed — remarked, “If elected, I will work hard with the supervisor and the other council members to keep the town on budget and serve the people of this town.”
In accepting the Republican nomination, Panza noted the nonpartisan tradition of local politics. “As Mike Reynolds and Jackie Early have pointed out, there are no Republican or Democrat potholes, and the tax bills go to everyone, regardless of party.” The community activist and first-time nominee pledged to bring a background in financial analysis to bear on the Town Board.
The supervisor serves a term of two years. Town Board members and town justices serve for four years. Voters in the November election will have the opportunity to approve or reject a local law that would increase, from two years to four, the terms of the town clerk and the highway superintendent.++
