2015 Races

Some have asked what seats are up in 2015.  Another question being asked is whether the Conservative Party line for these positions will be filled by the county or city committees.

Well, here are the answers.  The following positions are up for election in 2015 on the ballot for the City of Kingston:  County Executive, District Attorney, One of the 3 Family Court seats; 3 County Legislator positions; City Judge; Mayor; Alderman-at-Large; and, 9 Alderman seats.

As for who will be deciding the initial Conservative Party endorsements, the County Committee will decide County Executive, District Attorney, and the Family Court seat.

The City Committee will be deciding 3 County Legislator positions; City Judge; Mayor; Alderman-at-Large; and 9 Alderman seats.  One might wonder why the city committee handles the county legislator positions.  The reason is that all 3 of the County Legislator positions for the City of Kingston have districts entirely within the city limits.  If they had portions of another municipality, then it would be different.

In the next few months, announcements will be made concerning interview schedules for city candidates to appear before the City Executive Committee.  Any Chairman or Vice Chairman from other parties are also welcome to contact me or my Vice Chairmen, Don Ryan and Bob Boughton, to discuss candidates.  Any party chairs who try to do go directly to the County Chair or County Committee will be rebuked and referred to the City Committee (as one city chair recently found out).

My Vice Chairmen and I are willing to discuss candidacies with leaders of ANY of the other parties or with candidates or their campaign managers.


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UPDATE

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After receiving a comment asking whether the City Judge race is in 2015 or 2016, I did some research.  There has long been questions about the current term for Judge Kirschner.  This had to do with the several changes in positions and whether certain people had new terms or were completing former terms.  The position went rather quickly from Gilpatric to Ball to Kirschner.\

On top of that, the original term was four years.  Then, it was increased to six.  Questions lingered about whether an old term was extended and so forth.

However, after looking into it, it appears the issue was resolved with a finding that the term of Judge Kirschner expires at the end of 2016 which means the election for the next term takes place in November 2016, not 2015.