Traynor will stay on primary ballot for Watertown City Council

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Watertown City Council candidate Jason Traynor will stay on the ballot for the June primary.

Traynor’s petitions were specifically objected to by city resident Jeanne Barker, who alleged some signatures were not from registered voters, were incomplete, or appeared to be written in the same handwriting.

On Friday, the Jefferson County Board of Elections said while some signatures were not allowed, its preliminary findings are that Traynor has enough signatures to move forward to the primary.

Candidate Brian Watson’s petitions were also challenged by Barker for apparently having false signatures. One man’s signature was signed 2 different ways.

Watson has since apologized and withdrawn from the race.

Meanwhile, the general objection against candidate Leonard Spaziani’s petitions is no longer in play. There were 3 days allowed for the general objection to become a specific objection. That didn’t happen, so the objection goes away. Spaziani is told his petitions are just fine.

“It’s water over the dam. Let’s just continue going. I don’t want this to be a nasty drawn-out argument amongst everyone. There’s no civility on council now. Why continue that out here,” he said.

The fourth candidate whose petitions were objected to is Matthew Melvin, who has pulled out of the race.

The board of elections will still hold a hearing on Tuesday morning at 10:30 in regard to the objections against Traynor and Watson.

Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.