Monday, October 22, 2007

Mayor Seeks More Ward 2 Candidates**

**Rumor Alert. See the AP rumor policy.

We have reported that Mike Christman has been asked by the mayor to hold off on his resignation, and I have heard that she actually wants Alderman Christman to serve the full length of his term.

The reported reason is that the mayor is not adequately convinced that Debbie Rosen McKerrow, the presumed Democrat front runner for the Ward 2 seat, is enough of a push-over or 'yes (wo)man' for the mayor's taste, implying that the mayor's desire for control of votes needs more indulging.

This would logically explain why the mayor wants to hold off, if such a thing is true. If the mayor wanted Mrs. McKerrow, she would be pushing for an election as soon as possible. Mrs. McKerrow has name recognition, something of an organization, and experience--she barely lost to Alderman Christman in the election. So, the sooner an election happens, the more that benefits her. The longer we wait, the better the chances someone else has at winning.

What we do know is that Ward 2 is still, at least nominally, served by Mike Christman.

3 comments:

Paul Foer said...

Brian, you are suggesting that our highly partisan Democrat Mayor would rather keep in a Republican who barely edged out a win over this Democrat in office longer, than get in the likely Democrat sooner? Maybe, but how likely?. Politics always makes strange bedfellows.
The odds of getting ANY candidate is a longshot for reasons about which we have both written. Having a special election during December/January will likely result in less interest and fewer votes than if we waited. BUT...we are talking about one alderman and we all know who really holds all the power in this town, so what's the issue?

Brian Gill said...

It was suggested that the mayor would prefer the existing alderman (Christman), because she's knows what she's getting. I suppose a known quantity is more appealing because he's not that much of a pain in her side. I couldn't say for sure. But if DRM wins a special election, she would likely win the next general election. If the mayor's choice is to have DRM--who may think things through on her own--for a term and a half (at least), or to deal with Christman (who doesn't do much) for 2 more years, after which time the mayor could put her machine behind a democrat that would vote with her every time, the suggestion that she would rather have a republican for now makes some sense.

Paul Foer said...

If only the Mayor would spend as much time and energy adressing our crime challenges...