Ken Dow, who is challenging Sen. Stephen Saland in SD-41, has filed over 2,800 signatures to ensure his place on the Democratic line in November. Dow actually submitted more pages of petitions than Saland did, but what that means for Saland's petition signature performance is uncertain.
Dow is in an interesting district that our very own NYBri contested in 2006. The Democratic and Republican enrollment is nearly identical, with 61,786 Democrats and 61,855 Republicans. There are also 54,195 Blanks in the district, making this one that Dow has a shot at winning.
Dow issued this statement about his petition signature success and the support he has received to date:
We are gratified by the broad support we received in both Dutchess and Columbia Counties, and very pleased with the results we achieved, in obtaining over 2800 petition signatures. Our objective was not to make a show, but to collect a large enough number to secure our presence on the ballot and to ensure that any challenge would be futile. That we so easily accomplished that reflects very well on the underlying organizational support that we can rely on to achieve victory in November.
Dow sent me a video of his nomination address to the Dutchess County Democratic Committee. You can get a feel of what kind of candidate Dow is from this video:
