Special Election In 118th Unlikely

The vacant seat in the 118th Assembly District is unlikely to be filled via a special election.

Inside sources say one of the fatalities of this week's events could be the special election for the 118th Assembly seat, which is highly unlikely to occur at this point.

This means the process to fill the seat for 118^th Assembly District will be wide open for everyone wishing to pitch their candidacy. Candidates will begin enlightening their political parties any time between now and an expected announcement sometime in May. The petition process will begin in June and will run through July and then campaigning onto the primary finish line in September.

The possibilities for candidates on both sides of the aisle will be wide open. People to watch include; Democrats John Burns, Addie Jenne, Gregory Pacquin and Republicans Patty Ritchie, Tom Nichols, Carolyn Fitzpatrick and Phil Reed. Jeff Graham always is a lot of chatter, so who will he and the Independence Party field as a candidate for this event, Jeff Smith or Danny Francis?

A primary and general election will most certainly change the dynamics as compared to a special election. It will be longer campaign period and require a greater time commitment from the candidates involved. This process require a much larger financial commitment from the candidates as their campaigns will be financed both personally and by whatever funds they are capable of raising. The candidates will be required to form campaign organizations and recruit and compete for volunteers to assist them through the primary election. The process will require the candidates to articulate their ideas directly to the public, which will allow them to become known throughout the entire district.

The winners of the primary will be tasked with unifying their respective parties after a potentially bruising primary, which will be a minimum requirement in order to win a general election.

The political parties seem to have been struggling a bit to push a candidate forward for the special election; this will solve their problems. This process will vet the candidate in the most open manor and by the broadest constituency.

The strongest candidate for every party will survive, so the political parties step out of the way, throw the barn doors open and the allow the process to work. The public will find out the difference between those who are just talk and wanting their names tossed around like a football and those who are serious, willing, capable, and knowledgeable enough to address the issues.

Many say the public will win in this process, lets find out.