Posted on 05/02/2007 7:20:25 AM PDT by jmyrlefuller
NEW PALTZ - Jason West, the young mayor who drew national attention by presiding over unofficial same-sex weddings in 2004, lost his bid for re-election Tuesday.
West, who was swept into office four years ago in part on the strength of his support at SUNY New Paltz, was defeated 531-387 by Village Board member Terry Dungan, according to results announced after machine votes and absentee ballots were tallied.
Village businessman Jonathan Cohen, who waged a write-in campaign after his ballot petition was ruled invalid, received just three votes.
West, 30, became mayor in the spring of 2003, unseating 16-year incumbent Thomas Nyquist in an election that drew a respectable turnout at SUNY New Paltz, where West had been a student. Less than a year later, in February 2004, West was thrust into the national spotlight when he presided over the unofficial weddings of two-dozen same-sex couples outside the Village Hall.
West eventually was brought up on criminal charges for marrying unlicensed couples and was slapped with a court order that barred him from presiding at any additional gay weddings. The criminal case later was dropped.
The 387 votes that West received on Tuesday amounted to 42 percent of the total votes cast in the mayoral race. In 2003, he received only 322 votes, which was just 37 percent of the total, but was elected because Nyquist split the remaining votes with a strong third candidate.
West congratulated Dungan after the results were announced on Tuesday but later said he was the victim of a smear campaign waged by the challenger.
"Village politics sank to a new low with his campaign," West said.
Dungan, 60, denied running a dirty campaign, saying he merely was holding West accountable for his record.
During his time in office, West succeeded in getting the mayor's salary raised for $8,000 to $25,000 per year, with benefits, and was pushing for an even higher salary. He quipped on Tuesday that he now has the opportunity to seek a better-paying job.
West said he may run for office again in the future but has "no plans to run for anything this fall," when seats on the New Paltz Town Board and Ulster County Legislature are up for election.
West said that because he and Dungan both are progressives, he expects most of his recent initiatives to remain in effect under Dungan.
"The only thing that will change is the person is in the chair," the outgoing mayor said.
In the election for two Village Board seats on Tuesday, unopposed candidates Jean Gallucci, 47, a former clerk/treasurer for the village, and Shari Osborn, 42, a stay-at-home mother of five, received 577 and 407 votes, respectively.
Dungan was elected to the Village Board in 2005, defeating 12-year-incumbent Robert Hebel. Dungan now will appoint his own successor on the board. He declined on Tuesday to say who he might pick.
Funny when liberals lose the election was either stolen or dirty or both.
Could be the kid embarrassed his community and he got bounced.
There’s another article in the Poughkeepsie Journal about this, it quotes several citizens of the town as saying they thought West had too big of an ego.
Now he’s a bridesmaid and not a bride...
Of course he won. he tried really, really hard, so it had to be fraud.
The basic rule is :
1. If Democrats / liberals / anarchists / radicals win an election, the people have spoken, and the candidate represents the people’s will.
2. If Republicans / conservatives win an election, then it’s evidence of election fraud because the Democrats / liberals / anarchists / radicals always claim to represent “the people” and their values. So by definition, it would be shocking to see them ever lose an election.
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