Challengers trying to break through in Rochester City Council campaign

Brian Sharp | Democrat and Chronicle

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In the race for City Council's South District seat, three candidates are on the ballot and at least one more is waging a write-in campaign.

This is the seat held since 2004 by Adam McFadden, a strong Democrat who grew up in the 19th Ward, became a close ally of the mayor and the council's longest-serving member — until being removed from office in April.

"For the most part, Adam is gone and no one talks about him. It's not a thing," said Green Party candidate Alex White, who is making his third bid for the seat.

Also absent, however, is McFadden's appointed replacement, on Council and on the ballot.

Democrat LaShay Harris has run a quiet campaign, appearing at Democratic functions but skipping candidate forums and not responding to debate invites. Harris did not respond to multiple messages for this article.

"One of the reasons we fight so hard as independent candidates to be included in the primary debates and things is that they actually will show up to that," White said. "It's the only way a third party candidate gets a chance to go against the incumbent."

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Rounding out the race is Republican Marcus Williams, who ran for an at-large seat as a Democrat in 2017, and write-in candidate Ann Lewis, a Democrat making her second bid for the seat.

There is an argument to be made that a candidate's time is best spent going door to door, particularly in a district race, rather than sitting in what can be sparsely attended candidate nights. Or, cynically, in a Democratically dominant district, it makes little sense to share the stage with the underdog.

More than 65 percent of the city's electorate are enrolled Democrats. All the city's elected officials are Democrats. That voters will choose a Democrat is a foregone conclusion.

In the northeast, with only two candidates, there have been no debates.

"I campaign the way I campaign," incumbent Councilman Michael Patterson said, avoiding even the mention of his opponent by name. "I campaign door to door. That's what I do. That is what I have always done."

His opponent is Green Party candidate Chris Edes, who acknowledges the sparse attendance at candidate nights, and said it doesn't seem people are that engaged.

"This is the first district race I have run in, outside of the county Legislature," Edes said. "I don't have much to compare it to, but it does seem like people are less interested."

There is similar sentiment in the South District from Williams.

"Nobody knows what is going on," he said. "Half the people don't know if (McFadden) he is in or out. Nobody knows who Lashay is, or what she is about."

When it comes to Election Day, McFadden is definitely out, awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

And Harris is not a unknown. She is past president of the 19th Ward Community Association, a graduate of Edison Tech High School, and a certified paramedic who has been the face of Rural Metro, now AMR ambulance service. She current is the Career Pathways to Public Safety Coordinator in the Rochester City School District.

But her campaign website offers no specific policy positions.

Williams' switched parties after becoming disillusioned by politics within the local Democratic Party. He is about supporting small business, financial literacy and sounding the alarm on threats from climate change and automation, and the lack of planning to address impacts on jobs and infrastructure. Lewis speaks in sweeping terms about policies supporting veterans, seniors, people with disabilities and of various incomes.

White and Edes both speak about corporate welfare, challenging tax breaks and aid for big developers and big business. If given the chance to face Harris, White said, he would have pointed to her votes on the budget that allowed for temporary closures of firehouses this summer, he said, or the latest $1 million to buy and clear Bulls Head properties for an unspecified redevelopment.

As fellow Green Party candidate Dave Sutliff-Atias, running in the East District, puts it: "Government should be used to offset the inequality that capitalism creates." They see similar themes in issues such as the Police Accountability Board.

Sutliff-Atias is running against Democrat Mary Lupien, who is campaigning on issues of housing affordability and walkable, bikeable streets.

"People are feeling like they are completely cut off from any influence with government," White said. "They are desperate for anyone who will listen."

BDSHARP@Gannett.com