On September 15th, voters in the two major parties voted overwhelmingly for Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence as he sought and continues to seek his re-election. St. Lawrence faced fellow Democrat Bruce Levine, the Preserve Ramapo candidate for supervisor, in the Democratic Primary, and received about 60% of the vote. This was an overwhelming victory for St. Lawrence, especially given the fact that all of Levine’s strongest areas in Ramapo voted in high turnout figures, while the rest of Ramapo did not (see previous article for an analysis). Despite the high turnout in all of Levine’s strong areas, he still lost the primary by an overwhelming 20% margin.

After Democrats wage a primary against each other, it is customary for all those who participated in the process to come together and support the winner of the primary. Supervisor St. Lawrence’s victories on Primary Day virtually guarantee him his re-election- a fact recognized by even his fiercest opponents. It would be a no-brainer for any candidate who faced such a loss to do what they ought to anyway and unite behind the victor, in this case St. Lawrence, before November’s elections. Bruce Levine seems to disagree.

After sending out numerous mailings targeting various areas of Ramapo with messages of division- including two pieces that bordered on hate mail- Levine still has a chance at some personal redemption. The opportunity exists for him to unite all Democrats behind the candidate that a supermajority of voters elected by endorsing the winner of the primary as virtually all sensible and mature candidates have done in the past. However, Levine has opted to continue waging a campaign of rambling anger and division, and run as the hapless Preserve Ramapo candidate for supervisor in November.

It is not the first time in Levine’s awkward political career that he has done so. In 2007, after losing the Democratic primary for the County Legislature to represent District 6, Levine continued to run for the legislature against Alden Wolfe, who also faced a Republican challenger. Levine got the fewest number of votes of all the candidates, and was overwhelmingly defeated in his own neighborhood- the biggest embarrassment any candidate can face.

Once again, Bruce Levine has shown that his interest is not the voters or what they have to say, but rather his interest is Bruce Levine, and what he has to say. Having ignored the voters and residents before, Levine has no qualms about doing the same again, and in so doing, shows his true colors. He is neither a loyal Democrat, nor a loyal Ramapoan. His loyalty lies far from the virtues of true public service, and his continued campaign of division and arrogance is really only damaging the one thing he ever really cared about in the first place: Bruce Levine.