Heagerty Knocked Off Ballot Line

Mike Heagerty, Syracuse’s 1st District Common Councilor, did not collect enough valid signatures to appear on the Democrat Party line in this fall’s election. The Board of Elections ruled that he was one signature short of the 335 signatures that he needed. Mr. Heagerty did not sign a petition for himself. Let this be a lesson: every signature counts, every vote counts. He will still be appearing on the ballot on the Working Families line and he has plans to create a minor party line as well. In order to obtain another line, he will need to collect even more signatures than he needed the first time, and he will need to do it in much less time. His opponent in the race is Matt Rayo, who is running on the Republican, Independence and Conservative Party lines. Heagerty’s flub gives Mr. Rayo a much better shot of winning this seat. Don’t write Heagerty off yet though, because it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

Other candidates that have been knocked off major party lines this year include David Baines, who was challenging designated Democrat candidate Nader Maroun in a primary for the 5th District Common Council seat, and Kristen Zimmer-Meile, a Democrat running for a seat on the County Legislature against incumbent Republican Pat Kilmartin, of the 11th District.