No Democratic primary in Third Ward

KINGSTON, N.Y. » One of the candidates seeking the Common Council seat in the city’s Third Ward failed to get enough signatures on her petition to force a Democratic primary this fall.

Ellen DiFalco submitted a petition to the Ulster County Board of Elections with only 30 signatures, below the required minimum of 35, according to Ulster County Republican Elections Commissioner Thomas Turco. He said the Board of Elections ruled DiFalco did not get enough signatures to force a Democratic primary against Alderman Reynolds ScottChildress.

Scott-Childress, was appointed to the Third Ward seat in April 2016 by Mayor Steve Noble after fellow Democrat Brad Will resigned, has the backing of the city Democratic Committee and also will appear on the Working Families Party line during November’s general election.

Although DiFalco failed to force a Democratic primary, she still holds the Republican, Conservative and Independence party lines to challenge ScottChildress in the November election.

“I have three other lines,” DiFalco said Wednesday evening. “All I can say is, ‘Look out.’”

DiFalco said it was her error to submit the petition without enough signatures, but she also said the Board of Elections gave her an outdated list of registered city Democrats. She said some of the people on the list had either moved or were deceased.

DiFalco said she is not upset about failing to force a primary and is “still in the game to win.”

DiFalco, who served as confidential secretary to former Mayor Shayne Gallo during his time in office, sits on the Kingston Library board.

Candidate petitions were due to the Ulster County Board of Elections earlier this month. The primaries will be in September.

All nine seats on the council are up for election in November, and the winners will serve two-year terms. The mayor and alderman-at-large are elected every four years, and those positions will not be on the ballot again until 2019.