At the end of an election, the first thing those who emerge victorious do is claim a mandate. The mandate is always clear to the victor even if it’s a mirage. The result of last month’s town council election is clear. There was a blue wave in South Kingstown, evidenced by Joe Biden’s 2000+ vote improvement over Hillary Clinton’s margin In 2016. This 2000 vote surge lifted the boats of all candidates with a (DEM) next to their name and they claimed all 9 local seats available.
Is this a mandate? To simply ride a national wave that has no local relevance? Of course not. The budget referendum in July, the Democratic primary in September, and last month’s very close result between endorsed Democrat Jess Rose and Conservative Independent Greg Sweet show that this remains a bitterly divided town.
Only one candidate was truly able to bridge that divide. Deb Bergner received the most votes in a town council election in recent memory, more than Abel Collins, Meg Healy, or Kathleen Fogerty ever received, because she was uniquely able to listen to and speak to people across the spectrum. She performed as well on Election Day as the conservative independents, won the early in-person vote, and was also very competitive in the Democratic heavy mail-in count. Deb was the only candidate truly able to reach all of South Kingstown, and as such is the only one who can honestly claim a mandate.
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The South Kingstown Democrats can hope for a surge of Democratic turnout in future elections, but without Donald Trump on the ballot, that seems unlikely. Instead, we could truly attempt to bring South Kingstown together and follow Deb Bergner’s lead. We are a diverse town with multiple viewpoints and we finally have a leader able to hear them all. Newly sworn in members of the town council can show their respect for all of the town’s voters by selecting Deb Bergner as the next president of the South Kingstown Town Council.