Monroe County Democrats will not challenge Brooks

Monroe County Democratic Committee Chairman Joe Morelle says they will not challenge incumbent Republican Maggie Brooks for County Executive. “Regretfully, after our long conversations with people we were not able to fulfill in a timely way according to state law the mandate that we have candidate. So we will not be running a democratic candidate for Monroe County Executive,” said Morelle. Morelle says they talked with several candidates over the past few months about entering the race but in the end determined brooks was just too far ahead. “We have an incumbent that has a war chest of more than a million dollars. That proved too daunting task for the people that we interviewed and talked to,” said Morelle. “Im not surprised. I never thought for a minute that the democrats would field a candidate,” said County Republican Committee Chair Steve Minarik. Minarik says the announcement just proves Brooks doing a good job as county executive. “I think the democrats clearly are in a tough spot because they acknowledge by not running someone against Maggie that Maggie has done an outstanding job in this community,” said Minarik. Morelle say the move is less a concession to Brooks than a shift in focus. He says democrats are setting their sights on the county legislature. “We continue to believe that the most effective way that we can provide choice for people in this community is to change the make up of the and the majority of the Monroe county legislature,” said Morelle. But Minarik says thatll be a tough sell. “Youre saying Maggie brooks has done a great job, we don’t have someone to run against her because shes done such a great job, then how do you attack the same body which supports everything that Maggie does?“ added Minarik.