Published: August 12, 2010

Under pressure from Democrats and leaders in communities of color, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to end his push for nonpartisan elections in New York City.

Bloomberg's administration was unsuccessful in their quest to convince the Charter Revision Commission to put the issue on the ballot during this year's elections.

With a fear of wealthy candidates dominating future elections, a group of Black, Latino and asian leaders, as well as unions, came together at City Hall last week to protest the plan to hold a referendum this fall on nonpartisan elections.

The Coalition of Fair and Free Elections, which consists of elected officials and unions like 32BJ and 1199, gathered on the steps of City Hall to air out their grievances over a potential switch to nonpartisan elections. which would put local communities of color at a disadvantage.

"The city should be doing more to encourage New Yorkers to exercise their right to vote," said Congresswoman Yvette Clark.

Assemblyman Keith Wright weighed in on the issue, saying that nonpartisan elections would "effectively do away with the vibrant primary elections that New Yorkers rely upon to ensure fair and diverse representation in city government and allow for candidates who receive a much smaller segment of the vote or buy their name recognition to slide their way onto the general election ballot, position unearned."

In a nonpartisan election, all candidates would run in the September primaries and it's open to all voters. Whoever finishes in the top two during the primaries would run in the November elections, regardless of party affiliation.

Back in 2003, voters defeated an initiative led by Bloomberg for nonpartisan elections, despite Bloomberg's money-fueled push. Seven years later, he wanted to revisit the issue and that left some with a bad taste in their mouths.

"The Charter Revision Commission should walk away from the wrongheaded issues of the past," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. "Especially when those ideas would provide a disproportionate advantage to wealth candidates while potentially disenfranchising minority voters. Nonpartisan elections should not be on the ballot this fall, and I urge the Charter Revision Commission to allow more time to discuss this hotly contested issue."

City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera piggybacked on Diaz's statements. "Party identification is extremely important towards ensuring that those who represent us in office are those who share our same ideology and goals." he said. "Our constituents make a conscious decision on which party to identify with when they register."

While leaders can rest at easy for the moment, 32BJ Vice President Kyle Bragg wanted to remind those in attendance  at City Hall last week of the alleged dangers of nonpartisan elections.

"Popular but modestly funded candidates would run up against even higher hurdles to overcome if nonpartisan campaigns dominated by big money." said Bragg.

It looks like opponents of the venture won't have to worry about nonpartisan elections...this year.