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Quick Hits: The Election Edition

by Bill Dusty

Finally, the 2009 campaign season is behind us. No more political grandstanding, no more quickie handshakes, and no more phony political smiles. No more promises made to be broken, nor campaign signs planted and then stolen. No more name-calling, accusations, or finger-pointing by candidates eager to show how much they want to concentrate on “the issues.”

Until the next election, that is.

As Election Day 2009 drew to a close, about half the field of candidates braced themselves for the inevitable: they were on the verge of being on the losing end of a grueling, months-long ordeal. A crusade that began with high hopes and big dreams. “Yes, I can,” was about to become “No, I couldn’t.”

Most candidates took their losses in stride. But for others, the loss was apparently too much to stomach. Word is that Springfield mayoral candidate Bud L. Williams passed on the opportunity to give victorious Mayor Domenic Sarno a concession call on election night. At press time, the mayor was still waiting.

Meanwhile, a small pool of candidates with no rivals cruised to victory in Springfield. That didn’t mean, however, they weren’t out there stumping for votes. At-Large School Committee candidate Antonette Pepe received more votes on election day – 12,278 – than any of the contesting at-large City Council candidates. And she was already guaranteed a seat. (The top vote-getters on the City Council were Jose Tosado, with 11,951 votes, and Timothy Rooke, with 11,551.) District One School Committee candidate Norman Roldan was seen on election day driving around Wards 1 and 3 (which make up his district), thanking folks for coming out and passing out coffee, even though he was assured of a seat months ago.

Over on the other side of the Connecticut River, our troublesome neighbors in Agawam put their formerly unpopular had-been mayor, Richard Cohen, back in power after suffering through months of embarrassing headlines from the mayor who succeeded him, Susan Dawson, after she was assaulted by a romantic rival in a high-end pub in Springfield. (You know it’s bad when a Google search of “Agawam Mayor” turns up a cat fight in a tavern in a neighboring city.) But Cohen’s re-ascension to power came only after his election season challenger, the formerly popular Derek Benton – who beat Cohen by 45 votes in last October’s preliminary election, was found to have been in a couple of dust-ups with law enforcement himself during his formative years – which for the young Benton ranged from about two to fifteen years ago, respectively.

According to a post-election story in the Republican, Cohen credited his victory to “experience” and “his ability to discuss the issues positively.”

No doubt it probably helped that he managed to stay away from the bar scene.

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Read more of my election commentary over at Masslive.com.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Nov 5th, 2009 and filed under Elections, Latest Posts, News Catch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.