Monroe, NY – Two longtime Republican incumbents lost their Town Board seats, thanks to the changing loyalties of powerful voting blocs in the Hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel.
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Councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin lost to Democratic challengers Gerard McQuade and Richard Colon. Cards giving voting instructions within Kiryas Joel before the election suggested the outcome even before the results came in.
The powerful main voting bloc, which has historically supported incumbents on the Town Board, threw its support behind Weeks, but not Martin, who has served 20 years as a councilman. It also supported Supervisor Sandy Leonard, who beat challenger Gary Defilippis, the former Harriman police chief, to retain her seat.
Weeks had been on the board for 32 years and had the endorsement of the major Hasidic voting bloc, but not that of the less powerful dissident group in the village, which threw its support behind the Democratic challengers.
Martin said Tuesday he believed that Harley Doles, the lone Democrat on the Town Board, had a hand in changing the loyalties of Kiryas Joel voters. Doles has had an especially rocky relationship with his board colleagues since last week, when Councilman Jim Rogers allegedly attacked him during a board meeting.
Doles is married to town justice candidate Maria Vazquez-Doles, who also won her race with the endorsement of Kiryas Joel voters.
“Harley Doles is the Karl Rove of Monroe politics,” Martin said, “and he has chastised the incumbent Republicans for benefiting from a bloc vote, while the whole time he’s been over there trying to get that bloc vote on his side; and from the sound of things, it looks like he’s accomplished that.”
The idea that the rebbe can tell a bunch of mindless yiddin how to vote in a democracy illustrates how low this chassidus has sunk. Are there not Satmar who have the intelligence to analyze the candidates and the issues and think for themselves??
If only the two brother got together. Combined, they would such a powerful koach, both in Chassidus as well as in secular politics. Kera Satan !!!!!!!!!
Sorry to say but I’m satmar and I voted for whomever I wanted. Even though they handed out papers. They hand out the papers just for whoever wants to take. And even though you take you still vote for whomever you want.
So who won in KJ?
All candidates endorsed by the KJ alliance won
The marquee battle was for a council seat that held the balance of power between the democrats and republicans on the town board.
The Republican councilmember endorsed by the aroinis lost to the democratic councilman endorsed by the KJ Alliance.
New balance of power in the Monroe Town board shifted to the 3-2 Democrats from 4-1 Republicans.
In the specific race, the republican incumbent councilmember Mr. Weeks lost by 291 votes to Democratic candidate Mr. Colon.
In KJ Mr. Weeks received 2,592 votes and Mr. Colon received 1,809 votes.
The marquee battle
I just don’t understand why most chassdic jews love to support left wing liberals!
what a shame that these lunatics voted democratic.
I don’t think the Rebbes make the endorsements. It’s their advisers/Heimishe politicians, for the benefit of the klal. In Monsey, the main issue is most likely property taxes, which effects everybody, not davka government handouts.
If we want to solve the tuition crisis, all Orthodox Jews better start bloc voting. Can you imagine if all of us in NYC supported one mayoral candidate in exchange for school vouchers for all? Maybe that day will come one day… Why shouldn’t we have more power than the teachers’ unions & its members, I’m sure we outnumber them greatly?
In Monsey, a few years ago, the Rabbonim asked to vote to increase the school budget because the school district promised to increase the funding to the Yeshivahs. The problem is that an increased budget will also increase property taxes.
Obviously the Rebbes only care for their interests and the chasidim have blind “eminas tzaddikim”.
This way the parents will be forced to pay more out of their pockets without them even noticing.
Unfortunately the officials didn’t make good on their promise and for the next election the asked to vote AGAINST the school budget increase.