“We’re all Democrats and we all want what’s best for the city,” said Gallo. “I look forward to working with Hayes’ supporters.”
Clement, meanwhile said that he would support Gallo in the general election despite the “heartbreaking” defeat.
“I said at the very beginning of this thing that Shayne was a friend,” said Clement. “And he’s a friend now.”
Republican revenge?
The push for party unity may prove more elusive for Kingston Republicans, whose primary battle was a near mirror-image of the Democrats. The Republican race, which featured four candidates, ended with Ward 1 Alderwoman Andi Turco-Levin, who was party-endorsed, well-funded and generally believed to be a front-runner, falling by a narrow margin to dark-horse contender Ward 6 Alderman Ron Polacco, who ran a grass-roots door-to-door campaign.
Like Clement, Turco-Levin was a relative newcomer to politics. Her first campaign was just two years ago when she ran for and won the Ward 1 seat. Like Clement, she earned strong support from Republican Party leaders even as she presented herself as the candidate to break the grip of the entrenched interests at City Hall. Like Clement, she ended primary night with a lead only to see her victory disintegrate beneath of a flood of absentee ballots.
Polacco, who emerged from the primary with a 268-258 win, said virtually nothing in public during the campaign. He held no press conferences, issued no policy statements and, aside from reliably voting against tax and spending increases, made relatively few waves during two terms on the Common Council. But his steady door-to-door campaign allowed him to cruise to victory beneath the radar of the media, party leaders and the chattering classes that populate Kingston’s local blogosphere.
“I thought that if I could get my message out and talk to voters face-to-face I could win,” said Polacco on Sept. 23 following a final count of absentee ballots which delivered him the victory. “Now that job’s done and we have to talk about saving the city. That’s what we have to do from here on out.”
