On the Other Side of the Road—What I’ve Learned While Running for City Council

By Dominick Romeo

Everyone feels that they can do a better job than their current City Council member. For most of us running for office, it’s just a thought, especially when realizing the amount of work and dedication it takes to make a change. Deciding to run for office was one of the biggest decisions I have ever made. Although I lost this election, I may not lose the next one in 2029 – who knows – anything is possible! But until that day I’d like to share a few stories from the campaign trail.

There is no blueprint on how to run for office. No website that walks you through the process from beginning to end. I started out as anyone would – through a Google search typing, “How to run for City Council in NYC.”  I came across just one article. Although it was helpful in many ways – providing a basic understanding of the NYC Board of Elections, petitioning, and the Campaign Finance Board – I learned that it left out a whole lot more.

Even though I am a lifelong Democrat, I made the decision to run as an Independent in the general election knowing that Council Member Erik Bottcher had a huge advantage as the incumbent and was part of the political machinery of the DNC.

I started my campaign a year and a half prior to the 2025 election and learned quickly that I was already running out of time.  That’s because it took me three months to figure out how all of this was done.

I needed to get an Employment Identification number [EID]. But what kind of EID? There are many types of EIDs listed on the IRS website. I had to open a small business account through a participating bank that was familiar with candidates. But what branch was that?  Then I had to fill out the appropriate paperwork, register with the Campaign Finance Board, and take three required campaign finance classes – all before I would be considered an official candidate for the 2025 election cycle!

I was immediately warned by members of the Hell’s Kitchen Democratic Club that the gay community (which I am an active member of) was busy plotting to kick me off the ballot for my stance on transgender sports rights. I believe that biological women are not as strong as biological men – that biological men (whether they are transitioning or transitioned) have an unfair advantage in women’s sports competitions.

I have been an activist/advocate in the gay community for decades and began fighting for transgender rights 20 years before it became “popular.”  I even wrote an article for The Village View, titled The Transgender Games, where I presented a logical solution for our transgender friends to achieve their dreams in sports.

Petitioning season starts in April prior to an election. Each candidate needs to collect the required 450 “legal” signatures to be on a ballot for City Council.  To be considered “legal” a person must live in the district, be a registered voter and cannot have signed another person’s petition in the same election year.

The major party candidates can begin to collect signatures in April while Independents are allowed to start collecting their signatures in May. This leaves very few legal signatures left because the Democrats and the Republicans collected most of them a month prior, leaving Independents with a disadvantage.

I was faced with two options. I could collect as many signatures as possible and hand my petition in on the last day allowed. Or, I could hand my signatures in early on the Friday before Labor Day when leaders in the gay community were busy partying it up on Fire Island. I chose the latter.

According to the NYC Board of Elections, anyone can challenge petitions – and they sure do!  This is one of the main ways to remove someone from a race especially if that someone is not a part of the machine and not pulling the party line. In other words, me!  They call politics dirty for a reason!

By handing my petition in early, I was spared any challenges by leaders in the gay community.  But Luis Flores, who also ran against Erik Bottcher as an Independent, wasn’t as lucky. Flores decided to collect as many signatures as he could before the last day permitted by the NYC Board of Elections. His petition was challenged by a prominent leader in the gay community who just happens to be besties with Council Member Bottcher!

Politics is a dirty sport, and I loved every second of it! One of the main problems with politics is that they make it impossible for anyone to figure out how to run in the first place. They don’t want fresh ideas. They don’t want newcomers to go against the status quo and they will stop at nothing to destroy you!

To get more people involved I have decided to create a website called  HowToRunInNYC.com. This site will walk people through the process of running for office and provide a network for those who are courageous enough to put themselves out there. This website will include interviews with those who ran and lost as well as those who ran and won. It will be a step-by-step guide on how to throw your hat in the ring. I hope this site will inspire more people to run in the future because running for office is an experience that will change your life forever!