WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – There are a total of 49 primary races being decided in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, but the races drawing the most attention are two primaries for Watertown city council.
We talked to two council candidates who voted Tuesday morning. Incumbent council member Lisa Ruggiero is seeking a second four-year term and Amy Horton is seeking to fill the remaining two years of councilman Jesse Roshia’s term.
“This is where you’re really choosing the people you want to move on and move forward,” Horton said. “There are a lot of people running today and we need to pick who we feel is going to represent our city the best way.”
“I don’t take anything for granted and I certainly hope that the people know that I definitely speak for them and listen for them and I’m not afraid to speak up when I need to,” Ruggiero said. “So I hope that they recognize my accomplishments that I’ve had in the last three and a half years and that that would be enough — and my goals to continue on — I hope that would be enough to have people decide that they would like to vote for me.”
There are two four-year seats available. The top four vote-getters running for those seats will be on the ballot in November. The top two candidates seeking the two-year term also go on to the November election.
Running for the two four-year seats are Ruggiero, Cliff Olney, Michelle Capone, Robert Schorr, Aaron Clemons, Ben Shoen, and Doug Rice.
Rice says the most challenging part was getting his name and face out there, so his strategy was to knock on as many doors as possible.
“I feel pretty good. I feel like I put the time in and put the work in and now it’s just time to kind of trust in the process and hope that it translates and move forward from there,” he said.
Cliff Olney says the city is ready for a change.
“My job will be to build trust with the constituents and also listen to what they have to say before any decision is voted on. And I think that’s something that is sadly lacking right now,” he said.
Capone is running for the first time and says she has done everything she can to move through the primary.
“I have hopefully listened to all of the concerns and have the experience to be able to help move the city forward into the future,” she said.
Running to fill Roshia’s unexpired term are Horton, Patrick Hickey, and Jason Traynor.
Hickey says his message to voters can be summed up in one word.
“Transparency. We need to stop the back door items that seem to get resolved,” he said.
The other big races today include three challenges to longtime Jefferson County legislators, including chair Scott Gray.
Lewis County also has three legislature primaries. Several towns and villages also have primary races.
You can watch election coverage at 10 p.m. on Fox 28 and at 11 p.m. on WWNY.
Copyright 2021 WWNY. All rights reserved.
