Despite the gap narrowing after the counting of absentee ballots last week, challenger Philip Erner beat Ulster County Legislature chairman David Donaldson 248-235 in the Democratic primary for District 6 of the Ulster County Legislature.
Erner, a farmer, community organizer and housing advocate, submitted his petition with the Ulster County Board of Elections through the Kingston People’s Party, and received the endorsement of the Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Ulster People for Democracy and Justice. A co-founder of Kingston Public Transit Riders, Erner worked with Ulster County Area Transit to help restore service to Kingston neighborhoods that were cut off when UCAT absorbed Kingston Citibus. He also organizes with Ulster Economic Justice, Wednesday Walks for Black Lives, and Hudson Valley Eviction Defense.
In an interview with Hudson Valley One last week, Erner said he believed Donaldson misread his defeat, which in the Daily Freeman he said came at the hands of a “motivated minority.”
“The actual ‘motivated minority’ was the total turnout in this primary election, which equaled only about 20 percent of eligible Democrats in District 6,” Erner said. “This speaks for a crisis of democracy in which people feel disconnected from the system that governs them. They feel nothing makes a difference. Our campaign’s goal is to do our part in re-energizing the entire electorate of this district, to give them something to believe in and work toward.”
To do that, Erner’s campaign will not only have to convince voters to support his message over that of Suzanne M. Timbrouck, who is running on the Republican and Safer Community lines; but also those who may still turn out for Donaldson, the longtime legislator who will attempt to hang onto his seat on the Good Government party line.
Erner puts the stress on candidate, not party.
“We have to keep our message clear and not misconstrued,” he said. “Voters across party lines are less divided than we assume when it comes to policies that help the people. When our campaign sought signatures for an independent nomination in the general election under Kingston People’s Party, which came from Ethan Barnett’s 2019 Kingston mayoral bid, we had signatures across party lines. We cannot let ourselves simply be defined by party lines in a two-party system, because there aren’t obviously only two types of people. We have to reach all voters, and even those who cannot vote due to age, disability, immigration status, or criminal status because for politics to be enduring, the work done cannot be just about elections.”
Erner said that policies like Medicare for All and student loan cancellation are popular across party lines, even in traditionally red states.
“It’s as if our only political options are the ones in which the working class people are always one step away from homelessness if not already homeless, one step away from crushing medical debt if not already, and so on,” Erner said. “The short answer is that people are hurting and people reject the notion that we can’t do more. We’re just coming out of a devastating pandemic that exposed the lack of safety nets in our society. For example, the eviction moratorium ends on August 31, and we still don’t know for sure how we will recover. The county is trying to do a stopgap measure of drawing $750,000 from the county fund balance to provide assistance, but we are also moving forward with at least two more PILOT programs that only serve to further exacerbate the inequity in housing. Having name recognition is not enough. We have to do better, and this is why we had volunteers knocking doors, and why the voters came out.”
Erner said he believed he could make a difference in the legislature, especially if others also looking to effect change run in the future.
“I wouldn’t have run for office if I didn’t think there were some things a county legislator could do to make changes,” Erner said. “It cannot be done alone, but the more folks sharing the values and goals we’re articulating who are in the legislature, the better our chances. We have developed a bad habit where instead of putting our resources into root problems, we throw large amounts of taxpayer money on band aids that have no track record of leading to improved results.”