As Genesee County Democratic Committee chairman, Michael Plitt’s message is clear and simple.
Anybody can run for local office. It’s not overly complicated, and you don’t even need a ton of background or experience or spend oodles of money on the campaign, he says.
“I think people are reluctant to get involved in today's society, which is unfortunate. Because the fewer people that are on the ballot, the fewer choices people have in November. You know, it's not a secret, Genesee County is predominantly Republican. And, you know, it can be difficult at times to run as a Democrat. Most of the seats are incumbent Republicans,” he said. “But, as a party, we want to try and encourage new voices and new faces, if they're interested in running for office, to — why not at least — have that conversation? You know, it's not for everyone. But we want to present the options and see if maybe running for public office is something that's right for you, so we just keep reaching out every year.”
There’s a long list of positions open for the 2024 election, including:
- U.S. Congress District 24
- New York State Senate District 54
- New York State Assembly District 139
- Genesee County Sheriff
- Genesee County Treasurer
- Genesee County Coroner
- Town of Batavia - Town Justice
- Town of Byron - Town Justice
- Town of Byron - Town Clerk
- Town of Elba - Town Justice
- Town of Oakfield - Town Justice
The Batavian asked Plitt if he had a sense of why it is difficult to get a good dose of candidates to run for office. Is it a feeling of being the lone wolf in a heavily Republican count or being up against the odds?
“I think it’s a combination of all the above,” he said. “There are 6,000 Democrats in Genesee County. But running for office as a Democrat requires a time commitment because you’re going to have to do the work of the voters to get elected. So I think people, they may be reluctant to do that. We had some good candidates this last cycle, for sure. I'm very proud of the people we did put on the ballot. And then this year, we have a lot of the state and congressional races and, obviously, running for Congress takes a different level of commitment than running for Byron town justice.”
The Democrat Party will support and encourage new candidates and provide them with training and assistance to help craft a campaign, he said.
“And how to talk to voters. No one would walk alone,” he said. “That's our job as a committee is to support people who are running for office, especially those running for the first time. We’ve had some successful campaigns on the local level, and even at the higher levels for Senate and Assembly, it’s pretty easy to get on the ballot. I don’t think most people realize that. And our job as a committee is to show people how to do that, how to participate in democracy.”
The requirements do vary depending on the level of government one is interested in, but for something such as a town board position, it may take only 20 to 30 signatures to get on the ballot, he said. And some towns still have caucuses when a candidate expresses interest for a position.
“Last year we did have interest in Alexander and we had a caucus, we filled a Democratic candidate for town board last year in Alexander, so that was exciting,” he said. “So Alexander voters had a choice.”
For this year, the focus is on the high-level races, he said, such as county coroner, sheriff, and treasurer, with four-year terms. Incumbency has its advantages, he said, and having vacancies, such as with the sheriff position, it “does create opportunities for people to run.” He added a note to Sheriff William Sheron who has announced that he will not run for reelection, that “we wish him well in his retirement.”
Plitt would not disclose if there were prospective Democrat candidates for offices other than David Wagenhauser, who has publicly announced his challenge to Claudia Tenney to represent the NY-24 Congressional seat.
Plitt advised anyone interested in running for a seat to observe and/or talk to the person doing that job now to better understand the responsibilities, what it entails, and how much time it takes. You don’t need to be a millionaire or know a secret handshake to get involved; just spend some time.
“You can contact me or contact the Board of Elections; they'll tell you how to run for town board or any of the seats and how many signatures. It's not that hard to run for local office. Congress, obviously, is much harder. But financially, yes, you can run a campaign for one of the justice seats pretty easily, and if you're a registered Democrat, and you get the Democratic Party's endorsement, the party will help you run for local office,” he said.
He reminds folks about what President Barack Obama once said: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
To express your interest or for more information, email the Genesee County Democratic Committee at geneseenydemocrats@gmail.com. Deadline is Feb. 14.
