In a move certain to further roil party lines in Geneseo, incumbent Democrat Supervisor Wes Kennison has joined with incumbent board members Hop Manapol and David Dwyer in filing petitions for a position on the Conservative Party line for this fall’s town elections. Manapol is a Democrat and Dwyer is a Republican.
All three will presumably be seeking their own party lines at caucuses scheduled in the next few weeks, after which they would have the option of filing together on an independent line. Today was the deadline for filing on the Conservative Party line.
Since none of the three candidates is a member of the Conservative Party, however, they will need to receive authorization from that party to appear on that ballot. It is unclear, at this point, who is supposed to give that authorization, since the Conservative Party in Geneseo and Livingston County is not formally organized.
The state Conservative Party web site lists Doug Straight of Avon as “Interim Chairman.” Contacted today, Straight said he had no prior knowledge of the petition and he questioned whether the candidates were truly conservative or just using the line as a political expediency.
The petitions included just 8 names of registered Conservatives in the Town of Geneseo, which may be enough since there are less than 60 enrolled party members in the town. The signatures were gathered by Pete and Jane Dulmage of Stuyvesant Manor in the village.
The candidates now have four days ending Monday afternoon to file the authorization (called a Wilson-Pakula certificate) at the Livingston County Board of Elections. (For political analysis of this move see Corrin Strong’s campaign blog entry for today.)
The Clarion News Blog 