So, let’s try to handicap the candidates. Considering that Democrats hold a better than two-to-one enrollment advantage and Republicans claim only 17 percent of the populace, I call it thus:
Gallo: 52 percent.
Polacco: 39 percent.
Cahill: 6 percent.
Ladin: 2 percent.
Misc.: 1 percent.
Keep in mind that I also called party nominee Tom Cotton a narrow winner over four-term incumbent Hector Rodriguez in a New Paltz Democratic primary for legislature last month. I was so wrong. Hector picked Cotton apart, which he has been gleefully reminding me of ever since.
Other choices
There are four candidates on the ballot, but that doesn’t mean people can’t vote for somebody else, or not vote at all. Voting with one’s feet is also a choice.
Write-in votes are difficult and time-consuming but perfectly legal.
Along those lines, there might be a few write-ins for primary losers Turco-Levin and Clement. Maybe even retiring incumbent Jim Sottile. Clement seems to have made peace with Gallo, and then some, but around town Turco-Levin-for-mayor signs are reappearing, spearheaded by diehards I call “Turquettes.” It’s a statement and maybe an indicator their heroine might be back someday. She says she has had no hand in this rear-guard movement.
But please, having read this, do not write “Andi Turquette” on ballots. The board of elections is very particular about particulars.
Aldermanics
With five open seats on the ballot, the freshman Class of 2012 will be the majority, for the first time anybody can remember. Unfortunately for Republicans, currently outnumbered 7-2, it will be a Democratic majority with maybe even more of the same. Puffed up with confidence, Dems are talking about running the table. For a Democratic mayor, this would be a mixed blessing, Democrats being congenitally contentious. For a Republican, it would be gridlock. Voters should consider balance when they cast their ballots.
