scifiknitter

R. won the race for Town Supervisor - 328 votes out of 639 votes cast. The current Town Supervisor staged a write-in campaign in the last week before the election. Our county just switched to a scanned paper ballot, so write-ins are very easy. He got 202 votes, and was the second place finisher. The conclusion must be that the insurgent campaign guaranteed R. the victory. The insurgency in the NY-23 campaign had the same result, where Democratic candidate Bill Owens won. This result is gratifying to me; I couldn't do a lot to help R. in our town, so I worked as a volunteer in the Owens campaign. The overall conclusion: if you are going to play with the fire of mounting an insurgent campaign, you had best be prepared to be burned.

Did you feel the earth shift at 9 PM on Tuesday night? Because the techtonic plate of the politics in the town I live in shifted when the polls closed. Tuesday was primary night in New York, and there was only one race on the primary slate here: Republican candidate for Town Council. Three candidates were running, and the two getting the most votes would get to be on the ballot in November and would go on to almost certain victory. The candidates: - The woman who is a farmer and a county worker who has served on the Town Council for almost 8 years. She has been a sensible member of the board. - The newcomer, a woman who belongs to one of the two fire departments and who first ran a few years ago as a write-in. This time she did her legwork, and filed a Republican petition, got the Democratic nomination at the caucus, and filed an independent petition to boot. - The grande dame (EDIT: from the French, meaning "great lady") of our town's politics. This candidate is 88 year...

It's official as of tonight: my husband is running for Town Supervisor. In New York, a Town Supervisor is a unique position that is simultaneously chief executive officer, head of the legislature, and chief financial officer. It may not pay particularly well, but you have to go all the way up to President of the United States to find an elected position with as much authority and scope for action (within the relevant jurisdiction). He's had this job before. He served from 1996 through 1999. It was a roller-coaster ride and a half. The day after he was elected, the outgoing Town Supervisor and town council passed a budget with a huge tax cut and increase in spending. Essentially they dumped everything in the piggy bank into a massive spending spree. The reason: to deny R. the cushion of a cash reserve, and to ensure that he would have to raise taxes. The trouble was, their books were so poor that they didn't know how much cash was in the bank, and spent more than they had. A...