Bliss To Retire, Not Seeking Re-election

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
CHERRY VALLEY, MIDDLEFIELD, ROSEBOOM

After a decade as 7th District county representative, and decades more in local elected office, David Bliss is retiring. He has endorsed fellow Republican James McCartney for the seat. Bliss will still appear on ballots under the Conservative line, having missed the deadline to be removed. McCartney will face Leslie Berliant, who is on the Democratic and Working Families lines.

Election Day is November 4. Early voting begins October 25.

Bliss told AllOtsego he submitted a petition to be on the ballot as a Conservative Party candidate in the case a “suitable replacement” did not materialize.

By the time he decided to support McCartney and contacted the county Board of Elections “around April,” Bliss said, “the Board of Elections said it was too late.”

Reached by phone, Otsego County BOE Commissioners Michael Henrici and Lori Lehenbauer told AllOtsego they had not received a formal notice of declination from Bliss. They said the deadline to decline a nomination was April 7.

Sample ballots are available online at https://www.otsegocountyny.gov/departments/a-c/board_of_elections/sample.php.