The Jim Maloney-headed GOP committee has already endorsed Town Clerk Linda McDonough, Highway Superintendent Frank Petramale, Weiss, Wadnola, Brink and Kitchen.
I liked Petramale, a big burly guy who gets down in the ditches with his workers. “I’m proud of my men. We get a lot done,” he told the panel.
McDonough, appointed by the town board last March over Quigley’s objections — “boss” politics, he claimed — scored points with the suggestion that she would extend town clerk office hours to accommodate a working public.
In terms of politics, Ulster tends to be a one-party operation, which might explain the Republican chairman’s considerable clout. Rocco Secreto is the only elected Democrat in the town.
Democrats might have a better chance in November, especially if Quigley, if failing to secure the Republican nomination at caucus, winds up at the head of the Democratic ticket. He is widely respected for his financial acumen.
Adept at reading tea leaves, crystal balls and chicken guts, Quigley offered some insights into political reality in his one-horse town. The retired CPA told the Conservatives that elections records over the past four years show 499 new registrants in the town, with the tide running two-to-one in favor of Democrats and non-enrollees. With almost nobody moving into a town whose population flat-lined in 2010, Republicans must be losing their own enrollees.
“Obama carried this town twice,” Quigley said. “Kevin Cahill and Mike Hein win here, but the majority of Democrats don’t vote in town elections.”
They may have a reason this year.
Clarification: Suzanne Reavy is running for Town Clerk. Not Town Justice.
Please correct your article.
Thanks – Hugh has corrected it in his column this week.
[…] Hugh Reynolds: Questions and answers in Ulster town – There were lots of questions, but not many answers. The town hall where the meeting took place … Quigley is currently trying to pass an ethics law that would apply to town GOP chairman Jim Maloney, the town … […]