By Dan King
Incumbent Democrats Walt Sandford and Pat Roche won their party’s nomination to run for seats on the village board in March and they’ll be running against Republican challenger David Chaplin.
Sandford and Roche were the top vote-getters on a ballot of four Democrats who threw their names into the ring for Saturday’s caucus. They beat challengers David Molenaar and Phil Smith, who could still muster write-in campaigns if they choose.
“It’s the two incumbents that won,” said Marge Mohn, chair of the Democratic Party in Whitehall. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Sandford has been on the board for eight years and Roche is finishing his first year on the board, after being appointed by Mayor Ken Bartholomew when nobody ran for a vacant seat on the board last March.
Prior to the caucus, it didn’t look like the Republicans were going to get anyone to run, then Republican Chair Stephanie Safka received a letter of intent from Chaplin expressing that he would like to run.
Chaplin is the owner of Doc’s Repair Shop on Broadway. Safka said that in his letter to the committee Chaplin said he had been considering a run for a while and decided that now was the time.
“I was happy to see someone come forward and run,” Safka added.
Last March, apathy was a huge problem for both parties. Only Bartholomew, Mohn and Pat Norton ran for four seats on the board. This time around it will be Sandford, Roche and Chaplin running for two seats on the board.
The two highest vote-getters in the March 15 general election will win three-year terms, and each election after will be for four year terms. The voting will be held at the Whitehall Rec Center and is open to all registered village voters.