Rochester, N.Y. --- Some are calling it the most successful losing campaign in Rochester. Alex White, a political unknown, entered Tuesday's Special Election for Rochester Mayor an after-thought in many minds. This was a race featuring two known commodities; Rochester's former City Attorney Tom Richards and Rochester's former Mayor Bill Johnson. By the end of the night White had more than 2,100 votes and secured (unofficially mind you) more than 9% of the vote.
Richards defeated Johnson 49% to 42% - about a difference of slightly more than 1,600 votes.
In more than two dozen candidate's forums throughout this campaign Alex White made it a point to present specific ideas and solutions to city voters. He firmly believes he challenged the two front-runners to begin conversations about the issues.
"I think they would have spent the whole time talking about the Fast Ferry, Neighbors-to-Neighbors, and whether or not the DUffy or Johnson administration was better at engaging the community," White said in an interview on Wednesday. "I think I took votes from both of the candidates."
One could also argue that White, a Rochester businessman who owns and operates a gaming store on Monroe Avenue, was the "fiscal conservative" in this race. He claims to have spent about $5,500 on his campaign and majority of that was on U.S. Postage. Conclusion? He spent less than $3 per vote he earned. As for the postage, White made it a point to hand-write the addresses on all his campaign mailers.
"We wanted an approach that would actually lead people to reading what I had to say and I think the hand-addressed envelopes with a stamp on it all get opened and at least it gets looked at," White said.
While he won't rule out another campaign in the future, White was quick to say, "I would hope that thre are other candidates that are as strong or stronger than me running on the Green Party line in the future."
White also believes one of his campaign agenda items may be adopted by the new Richards regime. White said both Johnson and RIchards expressed support for his plan to install LED Street Lights in the city. White argues it makes sense, it's easily possible, and it simply saves too much money in the future to be ignored.
