This current election season was wrought with its fair share of local tensions. On the surface, it was the primary results that caused over half of the Democratic Committee to resign. But other ideological differences concerning affordable housing and handling tax-payer money — with a younger voice taking over — that caused the party’s split.
On the night of Nov. 5, this manifested itself into the form of three different election night parties with three different attitudes: Kendall Hicks (Public Works) at the Elk Lodge on historic Beekman Street, Tara N. Gaston (Supervisor) at the Inn at Saratoga, and Kelly (as well as her mixed cohort of Madigan and Dalton) at the Embassy Suites downtown.
All three candidates awaited results in their own way. The Elk Lodge was decorated with purple streamers and small disco balls, the three small banquet tables sitting empty and the light refreshments — a fruit and vegetable tray — sat relatively untouched. Soul legends sang out from the room’s speakers, and walls were covered with images of historic black figures and photos of “Honor King: End Racism” signs.
Despite Hicks not winning, his position as the first African American running for Public Works stirred the waters in a new way. Of the eight or nine people there around — a small number of stragglers supporting the candidate mired in domestic abuse allegations from 2013 — two were white.
As for Tommy Davis, who was present during the event and Trustee of the Lodge, the three election parties is a result of a never ending want to do better for the town: “Find someone who’s really going to work with the committee, work with the people here, and make Saratoga a better place to live and be an employee.”
Over at the historic Inn, fiddler music seeps out through the middle dining room while a three piece jazz band — including an oversized upright bass — tumbles out from the conference room in the back, where Gaston, Dillon, and their supporters camp out.
Among the expectant group are long standing Democrats as well as a younger crowd. It’s an odd mix of the leftover Committee members who didn’t follow Madigan and the people drawn to Morrison’s and Gaston’s focus on affordable housing.
There’s two large televisions on cocktail tables in the front of the room, one keeps going out and it’s the one projecting an excel spreadsheet being updated as votes roll in. An older woman in a black vest with silver bangles keeps cursing at the blackened monitor. With each exasperated fling of her wrists, the sound rings throughout the gathering group.
“This is very grassroots,” says Suzan Cohen, who just moved to Saratoga this summer from Virginia, but immediately jumped aboard to help. “It’s a gathering of the worker bees.”
Around 9:23 p.m., we are still waiting for most of the counties to send in their votes. Gaston and Veitch and Morrison are neck-in-neck when it comes to numbers, but Kelly, her name placed at the top left, hits 1000 and keeps plowing through.
A woman at one of the tables says, “I’m not watching it. It’s not worth it.” But the proclamation’s context is unclear. In the meantime, three younger supporters of Gaston’s had inched their way towards the now abandoned instruments.
Suddenly, a very early 90s, Scott-Pilgrim-like-punk-rock song fills the air. Upon a closer listen, the lyrics unfold themselves into a repetition of: “Supervisor of my heart, without her the district would fall apart. She’s three parts fair and one part sharp.”
The Embassy Suites is a bit of a different story. As expected, it’s a salad bowl of Madigan and the Republicans she put together post-split under a “One Saratoga” tagline, boasting a more representative, democratic process sans strict party lines.
The party feels more corporate and encompassing, equipped with red, white, and blue balloons saying “Vote Republican, Vote Row B” that are littered around the room in clusters of three. There’s a banner behind the stage, where an oak wood podium stands expectantly.
By 10 p.m., it’s become clearer who will win Public Works. Scicooro, the 12 year encumberment, has beat out Dillion. For public safety, Hicks has lost to Dalton, now the first woman to head the department.
Once all the votes are in and victories claimed — despite time remaining — it’s mixed spirits at the Inn, but one of ebulliences at the Suites. Photos quickly surface on news sites of Kelly, Dalton, and Madigan racing their arms, hands clasped together, in victory. It seems their risky coupling, and “One Saratoga” marketing, has paid off.