Who will meet the challenge?
We have never seen anything quite like the field of 24 candidates now running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. As journalists, we at times find it somewhat overwhelming to keep track of not only the candidates, but the plans they are espousing.
We can only imagine how confusing it must be for average voters. Members of the general public would have to be forgiven for simply getting some of the candidates mixed up at this point.
The next several months leading up to New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary are going to be – if anything – an adventure for voters, journalists, candidates and campaign staffers.
One could easily argue having 24 candidates in a race in which only one can win is absurd. We, however, will leave it to someone else to make that argument because the myriad of candidates will give us plenty of material to work with ahead of the primary.
Seemingly the polar opposite of having 24 candidates in a race for one seat would be to have only the current officeholder running. As of late Monday, only Mayor Jim Donchess had filed to run for his current office.
Donchess became mayor in January 2016 after winning election in 2015. He previously served as mayor from 1985 to 1992.
“In the last three and a half years, we have added a lot to the tax base, $2 billion by the revaluation. We have paved a lot of roads, 30 miles this year,” Donchess said Monday in promoting himself for re-election.
“We’ve improved education by adding public kindergarten for every 5-year-old in Nashua at all public schools, which was not the case before,” Donchess continued.
The deadline for filing to run for mayor is 5 p.m. June 21. As of Thursday, no other individuals had filed.
It should not be a reflection on our opinion of Donchess and his performance when we say we hope someone else files to run for mayor of our city. In a city of nearly 90,000 people, there surely must be someone else out there with the ambition to lead.
Quite simply, voters deserve options. Additionally, competition tends to bring out the best in candidates.
Nashua is a great city in which to live, work, go to school, shop and enjoy an array of unique foods and drinks. We, therefore, hope at least one additional mayoral candidate emerges.