Jul 25, 2024 — by Zach Jaworski (News Intern) , in Watertown, NY
Jul 25, 2024 —
Watertown is one of just two cities in New York State that still uses a non-partisan electoral system. Image Credit: Zach Jaworski
When voters head to the polls, they often vote for candidates along party lines — whether they’re Republicans, Democrats or third party candidates.
But in Watertown, people who run for office aren’t listed alongside a political party. The city has had a nonpartisan political system for decades.
Watertown Mayor Sarah Pierce says that system keeps political parties off the ballots.
“People who run for office and hold seats on the city council aren't defined as Democrat, Republican or any other party,” said Pierce.
If that type of election seems unusual, that’s because it is. Besides Watertown, the state Board of Elections says the City of Sherrill in Central New York is the only other place that does it.
Ballots don’t have an “R” or a “D” next to the candidate's name. Instead, they run for office as nothing other than themselves.
Sarah Pierce, a self-identified Republican, became Watertown's first female mayor when she was elected in 2023. Image Credit: Sarah Pierce
It wasn’t always like that. Watertown was chartered in the early 1800s, but it’s only been non-partisan since the 1920s.
The city newspaper, the Watertown Daily Times pushed for the change, influenced by a nationwide anti-party progressive movement at the time.
Jefferson County Republican Chair Don Coon says it was meant to protect the city from powerful political machines.
“It was brought in to try to guard against the Tammany Hall type of influence that's gone on,” he said.
Tammany Hall was an influential New York City political machine in the 1900s. As a party, they controlled candidates, jobs, payroll and more.
“It wasn't a fair system at all, so they tried to get away from that by not having partisan elections. That's just been in place ever since,” said Coon.
The Watertown Daily Times has been publishing since 1861 and helped encourage the adoption of non-partisan elections. Image Credit: Zach Jaworski
Nonpartisan elections are more common in the Midwest, according to Jacob Neiheisel, a political science professor at the University of Buffalo.
He says they’re meant to keep campaigns more focused on issues.
“That's the absolute ideal. Voters don't think about the partisan teams; they think about who's the best person for the job,” said Neiheisel. “That’s what nonpartisan elections are meant to try and bring to the floor.”
However, that ideal often isn’t reality.
“The vast majority of the studies out there have actually suggested that there's probably more drawbacks than there are benefits,” said Neiheisel. “People are not going to suddenly become super well-informed voters overnight.”
Most people aren’t able to know where a candidate stands on every issue, so when a party isn’t available, Neiheisel says voters often turn to other means of choosing, likewhere a candidate's name appears on the ballot, how pronounceable it is and even how long it is.
“That’s not picking the best person based off of what you’ve heard or seen or read. That’s grasping at straws and coming up with some kind of a way to make a decision, even if it might be less than ideal,” said Neiheisel.
Whether Watertown is the exception depends on who you ask.
(Left) Cliff Olney says he's been a Republican, Democrat and most recently an independent progressive. Image Credit: Sarah Harris.
(Right) Cody Horbacz says Watertown's non-partisan system inspired him to become an independent after previously being a Democrat. Image Credit: Zach Jaworski
Cody Horbacz, who previously served on the city council and ran for mayor, says it is.
“I really believe in the nonpartisan nature of our politics here in Watertown,” said Horbacz.
To him, the system in Watertown guides people to vote based on local issues, rather than just voting for the candidate that aligns with their own political party.
“What was John Doe's issue? What did he do? [Did] he stand for sidewalks or was he against sidewalks?” said Horbacz.
Horbacz says during his campaigns, he knocked on the doors of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
If it wasn’t a nonpartisan system, he says he would’ve almost exclusively petitioned other Democrats.
Not everyone in Watertown thinks parties are sidelined.
City councilor Cliff Olney has his doubts, calling it a “nonpartisan race in name only.”
Parties still find ways to influence the elections, he says.
“There's money involved, and carrying the petitions of the people that they think would be the best candidate for the needs of the party,” said Olney.
"The party should not be involved in the candidacy [and] in the campaigning for individuals. Just stay the hell out of it.”
Olney also says that partisans rally behind specific candidates in private.
However, party involvement varies by case.
For instance, Pierce says she didn’t receive much help from the Republicans during her mayoral bid; Coon says that as Jefferson County’s Republican chair, he hasn’t officially supported a city candidate.
However, Horbacz says he did receive some funds from the Democratic Party during his run for mayor.
Watertown’s next mayoral election isn’t until 2027, but two city council seats are up in 2025.
The intent of Watertown’s nonpartisan system is that these races would be about which candidate is going to fix that pothole on Main Street, for example, or who will replace the swingset at the park — not the party the candidate belong to.
But, politics are still there, seen or not.
