Local Libertarians turn in candidate petitions for the first time
There was a bit of history at the county's election's office this afternoon -- for the first time in Genesee County history, Libertarians turned in signatures to put their own candidates on a local election ballot.
Batavia City Council candidates Lisa Whitehead (center) and Jim Rosenbeck (right) need 191 valid signatures to get spots on the ballot.
In New York's system, the Republican and Democrat candidates get to gather signatures first. When they're done, so-called third party candidates can gather signatures. None of the third-party signatures can duplicate signatures gathered by the Republicans and Democrats.
They all, of course, must be registered voters.
The Libertarians turned in 459 total signatures, which will now be reviewed by the election commissions to see if the minimum threshold of valid signatures have been met.
With Whitehead and Rosenbeck is Phil Ricci, chairman of the Genesee County Libertarian Party.
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Congrats.....
Grassroots effort must start in local communities, it will take some years but the time is now for 3rd party canidates to take hold and build a following and eventually they will be viable enough to start winning major elections......glad to see them doing thier thing!
Big congrats to Lisa and Jim for a great start! These are two fantastic individuals that truly care about their community, and are excited to discuss our local issues!
While the current system is obviously skewed, hard work and a strong message will always find a way!
We look forward to meeting many more of our neighbors, and hearing what's important to you! Trust and Transparency!!!
Competition is always a good thing, including politics.
Good work Jim and Lisa, you will be great Batavia City Council Members.
"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."
Thomas Jefferson
Phil you rock !
To clear up a point, not all 3rd parties had to wait. Any 3rd party that qualified in the last election for Governor to get a permanent place on the ballot went earlier.
Some of them are the Conservative, Independence and Working Families parties.
You're right John.
The Conservatives needed just 8 signatures, Working Families just 1 and Independence just 22. They all were able to collect signatures at the same time as Democrats and Republicans.
Unfortunaley, all three of these parties are not providing residents with a different voice and running their own candidates, instead they are just endorsing Democrats or Republicans.
Only the Libertarians are running candidates that are independent of either party, or are not currently on council. We are very excited to have new voices to be heard, and are excited to the future debates!
And thank you Steve!!! You rock too!!
You forgot to mention that Jim came to the Conservatives and asked for their endorsement. But after the interview, he was not selected.
There's nothing to mention. My statement holds true. Even if your organization had nominated Jim, you still would not have ran a candidate of your own. Regardless, you did not, and instead chose to endorse candidates that were running with another party, instead of bringing new voices into the mix.
We refuse to be another group that does nothing to challenge the conversation. We are looking for independent thinkers that will engage conversation with our neighbors, while supporting transparency in our process.
Well, good luck
Thank you so much, John!
For those interested, the Genesee County Board of Elections spreadsheet for the elections they facilitate may be found here:
http://www.co.genesee.ny.us/geneseecounty/departments/elections/uploads/...
The spreadsheet includes signature requirements, candidates who have filed, filing dates with numbers of signatures filed, and nomination acceptance/declination dates.
Congratulations are in order also for the 459 Batavians who signed their names and are giving their city more choice. The point here, besides the historical aspect is that 459 voting citizens of Batavia indicated that they want better choices on the ballot in November to represent them. If we had more time we would have found many many more. Jim and Lisa are good, intelligent and independent people, who as Phil stated above, care deeply about their community and its future. The difference will become obvious as the campaign gets going.
They sure as hell have my vote, right now anything besides the D or R choices seem better. Especially on the local level.
With 10 competitive candidates for 3 seats (and you bet your boots that they're all competitive), this is sure to be a roller-coaster election. Rose Mary Christian running as an independent adds another big element, and it's sure to be exciting to cover.
Count my vote, It feels great to actually want to vote in the local elections again.
I'm excited, and I just moved into the city!
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