A week and a half in and it's already a strange election season.
One that promises to get just a bit stranger, now. According to the N&O's Jim Wise:
Bowser told Bull's Eye this morning he's having his own press conference Friday, and that he will be at the Board of Election office that day — last day to file for the council or mayor's election this fall.
That was all he had to say this morning.
Well now, isn't that interesting. Wise starts the speculation rolling as to whether Bowser might be intending to file for a local elected office (Bowser lives in Ward 2, for what it's worth.)
As it happens, mind you, Bowser couldn't hold both a municipal and county elected office at the same time. The NC Constitution, Article VI carries a prohibition against holding two elected offices simultaneously, and NCGL Chapter 128 doesn't provide for this as an allowed exception to that rule.
But of course, there's nothing prohibiting Bowser from running for a second elected position, and resigning the first one to serve in the second one.
According to a BCR source, the seat Bowser might be eyeing for a Friday press conference would be the mayor's seat -- and the story behind why just adds to why Durham politics are always interesting.
Our source reports that Bowser's interest in the mayoral race resulted from a general interest -- philosophical, you might say -- in not seeing candidates go unchallenged for municipal office.
(Bell does have a nominal opponent in Steven Williams, though not any opponent that has Bowser's name recognition -- and it's not clear whether Bowser was aware that there was, in fact, a challenger for the mayor's seat.)
Could Bowser, fresh with confidence having won election last year after being unceremoniously turned out in 2004, see this as a chance to reach an even greater pinnacle of name recognition?
Or will the presence of a bona fide challenger in Williams -- albeit one who has little chance, one expects, of winning -- convince Bowser there's no need to stand for the office?
One thing's clear: all eyes will be on the BOE Friday to see if Commissioner Bowser wants to try for the mayor's seat.
UPDATE: Durham commissioner will not run for mayor
http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5588425/
Posted by: weege | July 16, 2009 at 02:13 PM