The “general challenges” filed last week by Chuck Mason to the petitions filed by city councilor David Dempsey for mayor, Cherry Love-Duncan for city council and Sean Stanyon for the 14th Legislative District, may best show how local politics now works.

In a party as large as the local Democrats, the challenges from the former city councilor are the most surprising, since he served with Dempsey at city hall. When then-county-legislator Dempsey rejected the Democrat's 1997 city council nomination, it then went to Mason. When then-party-chairman Mason decided to run for mayor, pre-empting an expected announcement by Dempsey four years ago, the sitting city councilor stepped aside and ran, unopposed, for a second term for city council.

In the case of the challenge to Stanyon's petitions, Mason was one of those local leaders who brought Stanyon - as a high school student - into the local Democratic Party as a volunteer. Some may also remember that it was Stanyon with “Mason for Mayor” stickers plastered all over his torso, who challenged mayoral candidate Timothy Lattimore on his character at an Auburn High School debate that mayoral candidate Mason was also attending.

It is no surprise that Love-Duncan's petitions were also challenged. Several local Democrats report that she has been supported in her efforts by Dempsey; both having their supporters passing each other's petitions, after being rejected by the party at last month's nominating meeting, to challenge the party's decision.

In a party as large as the Democrats, it was surprising that it was former councilor Mason who filed the challenges, instead of some other party official. It is not odd that it didn't come from Chairwoman Katie Lacey, who has been publicly clear about her disdain for a Dempsey mayoral campaign. But couldn't the Democrats find anyone else?

It has been suggested by some that there may be three reasons for the challenge by Mason. The first is for him to show that, after his city council re-election loss in 2001 and unsuccessful mayoral bid in 2003, in which Democrats came in a stunning third (the Conservative Party candidate, Greg Rigby, came in second), this is a way to re-habilitate his image as a party stalwart.

Others have suggested that this is a way to send a message to all three candidates, that enough is enough and that for the sake of unity, Democrats have to go into November united.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com