He’s back…
Former Rye City Council member Bill Henderson, who mounted an unsuccessful run for mayor last fall, is re-entering the political fray. Henderson has taken the reins of the local Rye GOP committee from Katie Manger.
“I just think it’s really important that we have competitive elections here in Rye, and the Republicans need to have a voice,” Henderson told MyRye.com. “Our focus will be finding three good candidates for the city council next year.”
Henderson fills the rest of Manger’s two year term that runs through the primary season next summer. He joins existing Rye GOP Vice Chair David Hood, Secretary Jack Velasquez and Treasurer Paul Knudsvig.
There are plenty of good people that are eligible to serve, Henderson told MyRye.com. The challenge is not everybody wants to put themselves in the center of a political environment that’s very public and sometimes can be toxic.
Democrat Emily Baldwin, who was appointed by Rye Mayor Josh Nathan to fill his council seat after he moved to the mayor’s chair this January, will be on the ballot unopposed this fall. It will be next fall – November 2027 – when three council seats will be up for grabs – Emily Baldwin (Dem), Jamie Jensen (Dem) and Keith Cunningham (GOP).
“We almost have to have our candidates lined up and get start gathering petitions in February, March, then the primaries, and because the party needs to either name or not name its candidates, and then if somebody wants to run in a primary, they they have to go out and get petitions, and so there’s a whole calendar that goes into this,” said Henderson. “It’s important that we have a vibrant Republican Party and that we have a vibrant two-party system.”
