As my pal Ben Clark from “Clarkdale Fruit Farms” might say, “how do you like them apples, Greenfield?”
The 2019 Greenfield preliminary election is in the books, and things didn’t quite turn out as most people might have expected.
I’m pretty sure most people figured a Brickett Allis-Roxann Wedegartner mayoral final was in the cards, but the voters had other ideas, deciding instead to create the city’s first-ever all female mayoral final between Wedegartner and Precinct 6 City Councilor Sheila Gilmour.
I’m not going to pretend that I wasn’t surprised by the outcome, but it wasn’t completely shocking either. It’s been speculated for a while that Greenfield’s demographics had shifted left, and this would appear to confirm that.
The biggest factor may have been Gilmour herself. During the Greenfield Recorder’s TV debate, she looked nervous and out of her depth initially, but seemed to improve as the night went on. The next week, when she came to WHMP for a more informal appearance alongside Wedegartner and Allis, Gilmour seemed like a totally different person much more in command of the issues.
And then when I interviewed Gilmour the Friday before the primary, she seemed up to the job, despite having less than two years experience in local government. I remember leaving the studio that day thinking she might just pull it off, and she did — setting the stage for a very different type of race than anyone expected.
That reality is not lost on Wedegartner, who now has to shift from running against her ideological polar opposite to running against a candidate whose ideology very much lines up with her own.
That could end up helping Wedegartner, who I’m guessing will pick up some votes from Allis supporters who would never pull the lever for Gilmour. That’s assuming Brickett does not decide to run a write-in campaign, which he’s getting some pressure to do in the wake of an incident which occurred during Tuesday’s polling at Greenfield High School.
At some point during the day, a fire alarm was activated, which forced the evacuation of the building. According to City Clerk Kathy Scott, the polling site was locked and guarded by Greenfield Police Lt. Bill Gordon.
Scott said balloting was interrupted for a total of 16 minutes, during which time she was on the phone with the state Elections Commission determining how to proceed. Eventually, the school reopened and voting resumed, but Allis supporters have questioned whether the delay dissuaded voters from casting ballots that may have gone to their candidate, who lost by only 54 votes.
Whether Allis decides to wage a write-in effort remains to be seen, but, for now, the election is between Wedegartner and Gilmour, which is, essentially, a race between the left and the far-left, with a potentially big wild card thrown into the mix.
In any other election, Wedegartner, a Democrat, would be able to count on union support, but not this time. Though both are pro-union, Gilmour is clearly the favored candidate of labor, especially the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which pumped a boatload of money into her campaign — largely at the urging of one of Gilmour’s biggest supporters, City Council President Karen “Rudy” Renaud, who just so happens to work for that organization.
Anyone whose ever run for office knows how important union support can be, with everything from fundraising to basic logistical support. Gilmour also has the backing of the Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution group, Al Norman supporters, and may very well benefit from the “AOC effect,” where a candidate’s ideology ends up holding more sway than their actual level of government experience.
Gilmour’s going to need to have all those pistons firing to beat Wedegartner, who is still the candidate with the most establishment support, especially among the Greenfield Democratic Town Committee, many members of which are part of her campaign’s inner circle.
The other big winners in Tuesday’s election, besides Wedegartner and Gilmour, were supporters of a new Greenfield Public Library, who’ve got to be tickled to have Allis out of the picture because a lot of his supporters probably would’ve voted against the library for financial reasons. It doesn’t mean it won’t still lose, but it seems less likely with Wedegartner and Gilmour at the top of the ballot.
There are still another half-dozen or so storylines to consider, but we’ve got two months to chew those over as Greenfield gears up to overthrow its government in what could be the most intriguing election season yet in “Everyone’s Hometown.”