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Those poor Democrats.
They can't win for winning.
The Democrats gained control of the county legislature, at least until absentee ballots are counted tomorrow to clarify a race in North Tonawanda. And a political novice swamped the former Republican majority leader -- in Wilson, of all places. But the Democrats' companion goal, the institution of a county executive, failed badly.
For all the party-switching and cross-endorsing that went on in the months leading up to Nov. 6, the basic electoral truisms held when it came to legislature races and the government-reform initiative -- the Dems dominated the cities, while the GOP generally controlled the towns. Niagara University student Kyle Andrews unseated Shirley Urtel in Wilson (more on that later), giving the Democrats the slimmest of majorities in the legislature.
Or so it seemed.
William Davignon's 11-vote margin (out of 3,249 cast) over Michael Carney provides the Democrats' 11-7-1 "majority" in the legislature, at least for the moment. Given Niagara County's archaic form of government, control of the legislature takes on an outsized importance. The majority names the chairman, who in turn serves as the county's de facto chief executive.
Should Carney prevail after the recount, that probably means at least two more years of Clyde Burmaster. The legislature would be divided between eight Republicans, ten Democrats and Conservative Bill Ross. However, both Ross and newly elected Dan Sklarski, a Democrat from the Town of Niagara, are expected to organize with the Republicans, giving them a 1 vote majority.
Under Burmaster's, um, leadership, the county's main accomplishments were a) spending Niagara's share of the tobacco settlement like a drunken newspaperman; and b) wasting more money and time on a $19.95 cell phone bill.
Then again, Burmaster's political aspirations took a hit Election Day, when he squeezed past Richard Hastings by 68 votes. That's hardly a signal to the GOP hierarchy that Clyde's up for bigger and better things. Should the North Tonawanda recount go their way, it would present a perfect opportunity for Republicans to turn to someone a little less partisan in an effort to avoid deadlock.
If Davignon holds on, things really get complicated. Fourth district legislator Dennis Virtuoso is expected to make a bid for the chairmanship, and likely accumulated some political capital by quarterbacking the last-minute push for Democratic candidates. Fellow Falls representative Renae Kimble also figures to make some noise for the spot.
But the east-west parochialism of Niagara County extends to the party, with past infighting jeopardizing the candidacy of either Virtuoso or Kimble with the Lockport wing. While Bradley Erck, John Cole and Harry Apolito (who upended incumbent Republican Gerald DeFlippo) could determine who doesn't get the chair, they can't decide who does on their own. LaSalle legislator Sean O'Connor, the chairman when Democrats were last in power, would make a sensible compromise choice.
"He won't push for the job, like Dennis or Renae, but if the party comes to him, he'll take it," said one longtime Democratic insider.
An interesting (at least as far as politics goes) sidelight to the Democrats' late, Virtuoso-led charge -- ads in local newspapers during the campaign's final weeks were financed by the North Tonawanda Democratic Committee, rather than the county party.
That raises two obvious questions. Why did Virtuoso and the North Tonawanda Democrats do an end run around county chairman Nick Forster? And just where did the late infusion of cash come from?
Final financial disclosures aren't in yet, but as they say, stay tuned.
And given the drubbing North Tonawanda Democrats took in local races, losing the mayoral, city judge and city attorney's races, maybe they should have been paying closer attention to their own back yard.
Not to say Andrews is young, but he didn't have to spend much money during the campaign on razors.
But facing an opponent so entrenched that his party didn't bother opposing her the last time around, Andrews didn't just win in Wilson -- he romped. Not only did Andrews earn more than 60 percent of the vote, he gathered more support (2,031 votes) than any Democrat in the 19 legislative races. In light of the feeble turnout in Niagara Falls -- the four poorest showings were in city districts -- maybe the party bosses should turn to him for advice next time around.
As a candidate, Andrews presented himself as ambitious, bright and sincere enough that you had to wonder why he'd want to get involved in Niagara County government in the first place.
Of course, in politics, those are the ones that you really have to keep an eye on.