07/20/2025
Hello watchers, supporters’ friends and comrades. I’ve put off this important update but it is with frustration and regret that I announce that this years campaign for City Council 3rd Ward has come to a close. I want to thank everyone for their support and attention in this effort and ask for your continuing support now and in the future.
The core reason for the abrupt end of the campaign is the Albany County Board of Elections has invalidated our signatures because of a failure for our campaign to complete needed paperwork within a short time frame. Our attention was put into ensuring the petitions themselves contained no reason to disqualify us, so the necessity of an acceptance form for independent candidates eluded us. To clarify, even though I am a green party candidate, without a ballot line I am legally speaking independent. There is also the structural bias and barriers to being independent or third party. With a lack of notification or assistance from the BoE. I was told directly it is up to the commissioners’ discretion who is sent notifications and help. As the commissioners are partisan appointees, we live with the result that those outside a major party, or even their establishment will rarely be represented in elections and thus government.
Now for positives: First the campaign itself has been an important part of building our own capacities to contest and win political office and power in an environment where there is a complete lack of experience outside of corporate dominated politics. This mission will continue in building the local chapter of the Green Party so that lessons like this one and the current skill building are retained in an organization that is accountable to us. Such an organization would do what the Board of Elections does not: produce guides, checklists and training for independents to run for office. Second: we canvassed for 2 months, listened and learned from those we encountered and in turn told them about the socialist policies we would pursue: for the most part; those that would talk to us were interested. After getting our feet wet, Despite conditions on the ground, I am primed to do more, and invite others to not fear walking the hood or talking to working people. Despite calls to continue to run as a write in, I would rather take a break and canvas again for a focused issue that played well door to door; particularly community ownership via trusts and co-ops.
Lastly, I want to make it clear that the work is not over. With organizations like UniteNY: We must organize for election reform. There is no end to the points of abuse, unfairness, and structural barriers to proper democratic representation. Whether it is in voting (ranked or scored); campaign financing (block grants for qualifying candidates): Ballot access (drop and reform petitioning); proportional representation and multimember districts (percent of vote equals percent of seats); and lastly overhauling the Board of Elections itself. We have to organize and challenge the system overall to be able to have a politics of and for workers, ecology, and community. Become a supporting member of the Green Party and please contact me to be a part of our community to break the apathy and make the difference.
