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Democrats Choose Nicoletti as Mayoral Candidate from Crowded Field but More Contests Await

https://www.facebook.com/NicolettiForMayor

Democrats in the City of Syracuse chose Joe Nicoletti as their designated candidate for Mayor in voting Saturday.  The weekend meeting of the party however, still leaves a number of questions unanswered.

The final ballot had Joe Nicoletti edging out Andrew Maxwell to get the party’s official endorsement.  Democrats had been considering seven different candidates who all formally announced. 

After a first ballot, Marty Masterpole and Juanita Perez Williams decided to pull out of the voting.  Alphonso Davis drew just one percent support.  Chris Fowler and Raymond Blackwell were also seeking the nomination. 

But it didn’t take long before Perez-Williams already had announced her desire to continue a campaign…saying in a release just a few hours after the vote that she’ll take her message to the people citywide.  That sets up a likely primary for democrats. 

Fowler and Blackwell have also indicated their desire to try and be on the primary ballot.  Maxwell, who narrowly lost the endorsement vote, has not decided about a primary, nor has Davis or Masterpole. 

What is certain is voters will have a challenge to learn about all the democrats going into a September 12th primary.  Then they’ll most likely have another full slate of 4 to consider for November’s general election: Nicoletti or the democratic primary winner; Republican Laura LaVine; The Green Party's Howie Howkins; and an independent, Ben Walsh, who will show up on the reform party line. 

Mayor Stephanie Miner’s term is up at the end of the year…term limits prevent her from seeking re-election.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.