by Eric Ginsburg
So few candidates have filed to run for Greensboro City Council so far that there may not even be a primary election in October.
As of today at 5 p.m., none of the races (five districts, three at-large seats and the mayoral contest) have drawn enough candidates to merit a primary. The filing period ends this Friday at noon.
In order for there to be a primary, the number of candidates running for a given seat must exceed double the number of seats. So with only two candidates for mayor so far, that contest will skip the Oct. 6 primary and go straight to the general election on Nov. 3. If another contender joins the race, it will appear on the primary ballot.
The same is true for the district races — four of the five currently have two candidates, while the fifth only has one. With three at-large seats, it would take seven or more candidates to require a primary.
Right now, there are a mere four, though at-large Councilman Mike Barber told Triad City Beat he will be filing this week. Assuming he does (and that he’s running for the same position), that still won’t be enough to require a primary. [pullquote]Nobody filed to run for city council today. See the list of candidates here.[/pullquote]
That’s all well and good with me — the Oct. 6 primary falls on my birthday, and I wouldn’t mind not being forced to work late that night. But even if people are satisfied with the incumbents, all of whom are running for reelection, is this actually good for democracy?
It seems that state Sen. Trudy Wade’s redistricting plan — which has been sidelined, at least temporarily — that would’ve shaken up council may lead to the exact opposite: a breezy walk in the park for most or all of the city council incumbents.
Stay tuned; we’ll have more details on the election in Wednesday’s paper, and online as news breaks on the Greensboro City Council races.
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Eric wrote: “It seems that state Sen. Trudy Wade’s redistricting plan — which has been sidelined, at least temporarily — that would’ve shaken up council may lead to the exact opposite: a breezy walk in the park for most or all of the city council incumbents.”
Exactly as I predicted June 7, 2015: http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-incumbent-advantage-of-trudy-wades.html
How could all of the rest of you have been so wrong?
If this holds, then. it’s a really pathetic state of affairs
Just left Greensboro’s oldest “National Night Out” event started 1 year before the official National Night Out events started by my Mother, located in Textile Drive Park, corner of Textile @ Lombardy same place it has been since it was moved from my Mother’s yard.
Not nary a single incumbent City Council member showed.
Several police officers, 1 representative from Parks and Rec and no one from City Management like in years before.