It’s instructive for New Albanians to recall the 2015 election season.
In close cooperation with Democratic Party chairman Adam Dickey, Mayor Jeff Gahan targeted 5th district councilwoman Diane Benedetti for kneecapping in the primary; she lost, but winner Dustin Collins was forced to withdraw from the race owing to health issues, and substitute Matt Nash managed to keep the seat Democratic in November.
Meanwhile, again with the enthusiastic help of a forever shameless Dickey, Gahan set about crippling incumbent at-large councilman John Gonder’s re-election chances — and succeeded, though at the cost of collateral damage by flushing Democratic council rubber stamp Shirley Baird’s bid to serve another term, resulting in a sweep of at-large seats by Republicans.
Gahan’s self-serving back alley machinations brought about an all-male council (until 2020 at the earliest, all-white and with an average age in the mid-to-late fifties) where two women had been seated previously.
Let’s not forget Gahan’s petty conniving in 2015, although I’m sure Greg Phipps and Bob Caesar already have.
Trump victory spurs women to run for office across US: ‘Our time is coming’, by Joanna Walters (The Guardian)
Organizations report surging numbers of women mulling campaigns as potential candidates describe motivations: ‘Trump pushed me over the edge’
… (Victoria Oliver) is part of a surge of women across the country who are rushing to run for office in the aftermath of the election – women disappointed that Hillary Clinton lost and disgusted with the sexist and racist rhetoric of Trump’s campaign and the ultra-conservative credentials of his proposed cabinet.
“We are a force to be reckoned with,” said Oliver. “Our time is coming.”
VoteRunLead (VRL), an organization that trains future female politicians, normally receives between 30 and 80 applicants for each of its regular webinars.
“In a 48-hour period after the election, we had 1,100 women sign up for our next webinar and we had to close it and start a wait list,” said Erin Vilardi, executive director of VoteRunLead.
“Most women said they woke up on November 9 and realized they could no longer just spectate or click on online petitions, they wanted to know how to run for office, whether it’s the school board, the city council, state or national representation,” she added.
