Candidates from Green, Veterans, other parties submit signatures.
By John Mariani Staff writer From the Post Standard
One of Syracuse's independent candidates for mayor filed more than enough signatures Tuesday to get on the November ballot, barring a challenge. The other independent failed in his petition quest but said he'll continue to run as a write-in candidate.
Howie Hawkins and his four Green Party running mates submitted their nominating petitions at the Onondaga County Board of Elections about an hour before the 5 p.m. filing deadline. Hawkins said his petitions contained about 2,500 signatures, 1,000 more than required.
"The voters were very responsive," Hawkins said. A higher percentage of them agreed to sign than he'd encountered before, he said, indicating they were more familiar with the Greens and wanted an alternative to Democratic incumbent Matt Driscoll and Republican challenger Joanie Mahoney.
The other independent for mayor, Jacob Roberts, said he gathered 1,000 signatures, 500 under the minimum needed by independents to run for mayor.
Undaunted, he was at the Board of Elections counter about 3:40 p.m., asking GOP Elections Commissioner Helen Kiggins what he must do to be a write-in candidate.
"I got 1,000 signatures in two weeks. That's phenomenal. I just didn't give myself enough time," Roberts said. He estimated that eight out of every 10 voters he approached signed his petitions, encouraging him to keep going.
Hawkins and Roberts were among 39 candidates who filed petitions over the past week to run as independent candidates in Onondaga County's November elections.
Most filed under the Green or Veterans party labels, names that are recognizable but not among the five parties that New York state officially recognizes the Democratic, Republican, Independence, Conservative and Working Families parties.
Four Democrats and one Republican seeking offices in Spafford filed petitions under the Spafford Party moniker. Six of their opponents, all Republicans, filed petitions as the Neighbors First Party.
Michael Plochocki, who unsuccessfully challenged 6th District County Legislator James Rhinehart for the Republican nomination, also filed independent petitions Tuesday. He will be on the Abraham Lincoln Party line, facing Rhinehart and Democrat Karen Hanford, if his petitions hold up.
Residents have three days from the date an independent petition is filed to submit a general objection. The objector then gets six more days to file specific objections outlining which signatures should be thrown out. If enough are tossed, the petition can be declared invalid and the candidate sent packing.
Hawkins said he expects a challenge to his petitions.
"The Democrats have always done what they could against us," Hawkins said. "I don't think they're going to find anything."
Posted by syracusegreens at August 24, 2005 01:28 PM