In my previous post about the Monroe County Legislature elections, I’d wondered aloud about the status of Minority Leader Carla Palumbo’s status, now that she’s running for City Council. This while in the midst of assessing the Democratic chances of getting the needed 3 seats to upset the current Republican majority.
I’ve received word that Mrs. Palumbo is indeed running for Northwest City Council position. In the event that she wins that seat, she will leave her position in the Legislature in January, to be replaced with an interim appointment. A new special election will then be held for that position in 2008. There does not appear to be any hard-and-fast rule determining who appoints the interim Legislator, but convention would have the Democratic Committee decide.
Of course, in the absence of a “House Rule”-equivalent for such practices, exceptions to the rules might be made if the Republicans are in imminent danger of losing the Legislature. I don’t know if that’s ever happened in the past, though.
But assuming there’s no last-minute, post-election wheeling and dealing, it appears that Legislator Palumbo’s seat is safely in Democratic hands for the current election, regardless of the outcome. That leaves the 3-seat pickup for their goal this year.
So, that’s the story. . .
