Why are mayoral elections held in off years?

[UnrepentantLiberal]

Jerramiah Healy, the mayor of Jersey City, is a corrupt machine politician that many people who follow Jersey City politics would like to see voted out of office. Pay to play, double dipping, pandering to developers, you name it. He does it all.

The problem is that the election for mayor of Jersey City is held the year after the presidential election, when most people are electioned-out and not paying attention. The Democratic primary election is even worse. Worse than that is that we have no local TV stations and only a small paper that no one subscribes to. So most in Jersey City know little about our mayor and even less about his opponents.

Steven Fulop is a local politician who has fought against pay to play. He's running for mayor this year. The problem is that Healy's machine is good at getting people who benefit from his machine to the polls. Not easy pushing him out of office.

http://www.fairvote.org/voter-turnout#.UQkULpPCsw8

-snip-

Low turnout is most pronounced in off-year elections for state legislators and local officials as well as primaries. In many cities, for example, mayors of major cities often are elected with single-digit turnout ; for example, turnout was only 5 percent of registered voters in a recent Dallas mayoral election, 6 percent in Charlotte, and 7 percent in Austin. Congressional primaries have similarly low turnout; for example, turnout was only 7 percent in a recent Tennessee primary, and was only 3 percent for a U.S. Senate primary in Texas. A statewide gubernatorial election in Kentucky has a turnout of only 6 percent since Kentucky gubernatorial elections are held in the off-off-year between mid-term congressional election and presidential elections was scheduled at a time when there were no elections for federal office. North Carolina’s runoff elections have seen turnout as low as 3 percent in statewide elections.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I thought they cleaned up JC-- I must have been wrong, but...

not at all surprised. I remember when they stopped putting the Mayor's name on that reservoir up by Parsippany because as soon as they got it up there, Hizzoner was indicted.

When I lived in Elizabeth, I somehow got hooked up with a Deaniac group that was talking loudly about a recently opened Congressional seat. A woman from the primary county machine (there were effectively three Democratic parties in the county at the time) showed up at the meeting, but stopped taking notes early on and left soon after, with a look of unbelief on her face.

I doubt anyone who hasn't been through the sort of ringer that is Joisey politics can appreciate what an incredible mess it is.

(Anyone remember the Camden mayor who was busted for dealing?)

[UnrepentantLiberal]

2. I think politicians will always be going to prison for taking bribes.

It's a Jersey tradition.

I'm from the West Coast so East Coast politics has been really something to observe. In a way it's almost entertaining. Even the local union halls are all about 'who you know'.