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Last week’s fundraiser for Jon Sennett, a Democratic candidate for Ulster County district attorney, was more noteworthy for who was there than how many. Ticket sales, at $75 per, were less than robust — somewhere between 80 and 100.
But political clout was much in evidence... Sennett, the party’s unsuccessful candidate for DA in 2007, spent a good deal of the interregnum mending fences and securing support. It shows.
Endorsing the candidate at the fundraiser were assemblyman Kevin Cahill and county executive Mike Hein, an odd couple rarely seen on the same page or in the same room together. If Sennett can unite those factions, he’s halfway home.
Also dropping by with a grin, a handshake and a check was Independence Party chairman Len Bernardo. The Indies backed maverick Democrat Vince Bradley Jr. in the ’07 ménage a trois between Republican Holley Carnright, Sennett and Bradley. They could provide the margin of victory in this year’s election. Bernardo, who shamelessly describes himself as “a power broker,” will steer his party’s nomination to the highest bidder. That he appears at anybody’s fundraiser is no guarantee of support from the wily pol.
Bradley, only 43, is out of this year’s race, happily operating out of Poughkeepsie as the state attorney general’s Hudson Valley representative. But the “Bradley vote” is very much in play.A Kingston resident and heir to the old guard, Bradley polled 22 percent of the vote on the Independence and Conservative party lines. Sennett, with support from the Working Families Party, came in with 34.3. Carnright won the election on the Republican line with 43.5 percent. But even the best brains (?) in each party aren’t sure just what constitutes the “Bradley vote” and how to get at it.
It’s a mixed bag of independents, conservatives, Republicans and Democrats that defies easy analysis. For instance, Carnright trounced Sennett in Kingston, seat of Democratic dissension, where Dems hold a two-to-one enrollment advantage. Meanwhile, appearances to the contrary, Carnright isn’t just sitting around awaiting his fate. While publicly eschewing politics, the DA has been quietly courting support, with a particular focus on the Bradley vote and the Independence nomination.
Read more: Hudson Valley Times - The race is on
14 comments:
What happened to your Parete story?
And there is the secret to this election. Turnout will be even lower, especially if there is not a county exec election, but the majority of those who voted for Bradley will be in Carnright's corner. If Sennett does not win Kingston with a 2 to 1 advantage, he cannot win. Sennett may have mended a few fences, but Carnright is making "friends".
Without Bradley on the ballot, Sennett wins Kingston easy. There will not be a concerted effort to get Dems to vote against him like there was last time. There were also a lost of disgruntled Democrats that voted for Carnright out of frustration in the rest of the county.
In the end, I predict Sennett wins by about 2-3k.
Doing that later..my bad. Trying to upload the lawsuit and having trouble using scribd.
To 11:40:
I don't know where you have been, but there is already is a concerted effort in Kingston.
Please, that's why the state assemblyman from Kingston was there and that's why the city committee is ready to endorse him. From what I understand one of his loud mouth yenta suporters is the one holding it up, she does not want the committee to endorse anyone. What a moron.
4:08, Diner conversation with 3 or 4 people is not a concerted effort. It is 3 or 4 blowhards listening to each other.
The Bradley "lingering spite" vote is something that cannot be ignored.
The City Committee can endorse anyone they want. it really means nothing for two reasons. 1. The people on that committee barely attend the convention and certainly to not assist their county wide candidates; 2. I think it has been made abundantly clear over the last several years that the City Committee does not have their finger on the pulse of the City Democrats in any way shape or form. BTW Cahill is not liked in Kingston so his appearance propably did more harm than good.
Hugie used to make the big bucks now he's using food stamps. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Speaking of the City committee:
The Kingston Democratic committee is the laughing stock of the county. They argue with everyone, think they know it all and are obviously being lead by a few people with significant ties to the old school politicians. The County is changing and the Kingston Democrats better get on board or they are going to miss the train. It is time for some new people, new blood. Not these same old people who sit around and conspire on how that can gain more influence and become more powerful.
Ulster County needs to purge itself of the old way of doing business with all the political deal making, holding onto the "insider" mentality, and bullying of anyone who tries to make a difference.
Kingston is a good place to start.
12:47... Quite simply, you are full of shit.
The Kingston Democrats attend every convention in a much greater percentage than most committees.
The committee seems to do OK. When is the last time more than one or two Republicans won in Kingston? We seem to be putting up candidates that the city Democrats like enough to elect!
As for Kevin Cahill, I am a Kingston Dem I and I like him just fine, Unless you are talking about Richard Cahill, who is despised by ALL Kingston Democrats.
Check the numbers. You are completely wrong. The Kingston Committee's attendance is terrible at the convention when compared to other towns in the county. And the worst part is that the convention is in Kingston so their is no excuse. They rarely have over 70%. This is a once a year thing. There is absolutely no reason not to have 100% attendance. Many other towns that are much farther away do have 100%.
Name me one town that has 100% attendence at any county convention?
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