The “Outsiders”
What does Democratic candidate for Mayor Brian Williams have in common with Republican candidate for Sheriff Bart McAtee? Apart from both likely supporting Frank Anderson in the last race for Sheriff? They are running for those offices against the wishes of their political parties, but the similarities probably stop right there.
McAtee lost county slating two Saturdays ago to Dennis Fishburn, who received about 55-percent of the delegate vote. He announced Tuesday that he was going to run against the slate for Sheriff. Williams has caused the ire of the Democratic establishment by filing more than 200 precinct committeemen candidates last Friday to run in the May primary. I can only imagine the conversation in the room when both County Chairman got news of what was going on. To be frank, I thought Ed Treacy only used that kind of language when referring to me when telling people my parents weren’t married when I born.
I’ve asked both men why they are running against the establishment. McAtee says he made his decision was made because none of his supporters told him to get out of the race. Williams says democracy should not be decided by a handful of people. It’s no secret that I am not a big fan of slating, so to that extent I will give both men credit for bucking the system.
However, McAtee’s problem in the primary will be having to explain to his Republican voters that he gave money to Democrat Frank Anderson. And he told his fellow GOP member that he gave Anderson money because the Sheriff gave him a 40-percent raise. In addition, a lot of the McAtee family is on the Sheriff’s payroll and that did not sit well at slating, thus the 55-percent vote for Fishburn.
Williams’ problem is that his efforts to run for Mayor have come across as an attempt to take over the party. As one Democratic insider told me, “if you’re going to shoot the king, shoot to kill.” There has been a lot of chatter about whether Williams’ candidates are valid. That won’t be decided until a hearing next week. Although Williams may be swimming upstream, what I don’t think some Democrats have grasped, is that he brought more than 200 people to the process and he can access a lot of cash. So if he wanted to circumvent the slating process next year and launch his own bid for Mayor, he’d make life very miserable for a lot of Democrats. After all, there’s nothing worse than a bunch of ticked off people who think they’ve been shut out of the process.
So what’s the difference between Bart McAtee and Brian Williams? If Williams loses his fight, he’ll still be around next year, and could cause even more grief for Democrats. If McAtee loses, he’s pretty much done.
