| I have remained unbiased about who the best candidate is in the 61st Senate District Democratic primary. The choices are good ones: Michele Iannello, Joe Mesi and Dan Ward. If you go by the personalities of all three candidates and their desire to lead, all three have great personalities and all three want to lead. That is why in perhaps the state senate race I know the most about I have not given my opinion either way.
When progressive Democrats go to vote in the district (and there are plenty of progressives in SD-61) they will have their hands full. I will say this: Dan Ward is the least progressive among the three. Dan is a great Democrat and his least progressive "status" doesn't take away from the service he has given to Amherst. But Ward is admittedly a conservative Democrat who is pro-gun, pro-life and against marriage equality. He also is a fiscal conservative. Ward is a great asset locally in Amherst and again, he's a great Democrat. But if a progressive asks themselves who they should vote for, Dan Ward isn't it.
That leaves Iannello and Mesi. I have problems with who Mesi affiliated himself with politically (i.e. Steve Pigeon) but with all that on the table, I like Mesi. Taking all the background information and putting it off to the side, Mesi is someone who cares. He wants to be a leader. He wants to see better times for this district and Western New York. He wants to see better out of the New York State Senate.
I do have one problem with Mesi though: His consistency. I have a hard time trying to piece together why Mesi would receive the backing from the Working Families Party and then be endorsed by the local Conservative Party. In listening to other Democrats and hearing from other Democrats in this district, it has been said that Mesi tends to "preach to the choir" that he is speaking to. That worries me, especially when it comes time to stand up to the Republicans. When it's time for Democrats to stand up, we don't need Joe Mesi to sit down.
It is also interesting to note that Mesi has been inconsistent on marriage equality. When I interviewed Mesi in mid-April, he told me that he supports a "strong civil union." Recently though while debating Iannello and Ward, Mesi said, "I don't see myself not being supportive of equal rights." When asked if he would vote for a bill supporting gay marriage, Mesi called it a "fairness" issue and again referred to it as an equal rights issue before adding, simply, "yes." That is the most glaring example of Mesi's inconsistency.
That leads me to Iannello. I have my disagreements on more than a few issues with Iannello. But she is the most progressive candidate in this race. She has presented and will continue to present new ideas every day on her "40 Ideas In 40 Days" blog featured on the front page of her website. Again, I don't agree with all of the ideas presented. But Iannello has proven herself as a progressive when it comes to the issues impacting the state and her desire to change how the game is played in Albany.
If I was a progressive in this race, I would be backing Iannello. She has what it takes to be a progressive state senator. I do think though she is trailing behind Mesi in the race. It will be close, but it will be tough for Iannello to overcome the strong name recognition Mesi has. |
