Monroe County Independence Party
162 Furlong Road ● Rochester, NY 14623 ●
PHONE (585) 727.7829 ● www.MonroeCountyIP.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2011
Contact:
Steve Corryn, Chairman
P: 585-727-7829
scorryn1@rochester.rr.com
INDEPENDENCE PARTY FAVORS APPOINTMENT AND GENERAL
ELECTION OVER SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL MAYORAL VACANCY
ROCHESTER, NY – January 10, 2011—This past November, Andrew Cuomo was
elected as New York State’s 56th Governor. This was nothing out of the ordinary as our
state had done this 55 times before, until the City of Rochester realized that this also
meant that they would be losing its Mayor, Bob Duffy, as he would join the Governor on
the second floor of our State’s Capitol to serve as lieutenant governor. So the question
remains, “What do we do now?”
Since November 2nd, there has been much discussion about whether City Council
should appoint a qualified individual to serve as Mayor for 2011 and then hold a general
election for the position this November, to be preceded by a primary election in
September, or, for City Council to select a date for a special election within 90 days of
Duffy’s departure.
The Independence Party of Monroe County is organized around a core of values,
beliefs and principles, and these are embodied in the objectives described in our
platform. The first element defined in our party’s mission is, “To restore democratic
choice and electoral accountability.” It is because of this core value that we support a
general election to fill this vacancy.
The option of a special election leaves out one very important piece of the democratic
puzzle, that being a primary election.
The fact remains that Rochester’s last three mayors that went on to serve the people of
this city were not the chosen candidate by the Democratic Party going into their
respective primaries.
It is for the above reasons that the Monroe County Independence Party supports an
appointment for the position of mayor followed by a primary and general election this fall
to fill the vacancy left by now Lieutenant Governor Duffy.
