Crespo Officially Drops Out; Primary Cancelled

There won’t be a Democratic primary in the Ward 16 alder race after all — now that Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo has formally withdrawn his candidacy, leaving challenger Magda Natal unopposed in her pursuit of the Democratic nomination for the role.

At 4:55 p.m. Friday, Crespo — a ten-year incumbent who had secured the Democratic Town Committee’s official endorsement in July — sent an email to City Clerk Michael Smart with the subject line, ​“Request to Remove my Candidacy for Alder of Ward 16.”

“Please allow this email to serve as my official notice of my request to remove my candidacy for the primary and general election for the position of alder for the 16th ward,” Crespo wrote in that email.

“I have been honored to serve this great community for 10 years and I’d like to take this time to focus on my education as I will be starting my Masters level education in two weeks and I’d like nothing but the unity of our residents in Fair Haven and I will work alongside the community and elected officials to ensure the best interest of our community is met!”

Crespo sent that email hours after he showed up as guest at a press conference hosted by his challenger, Magda Natal, and announced that he would not be seeking reelection after all, and would instead be supporting Natal’s candidacy.

During an interview at that presser, Crespo said that his name would still appear on the ballot of the Sept. 9 Democratic primary even though he was dropping out of the race. Friday’s email, however, means that he won’t actually be running in September. And, since Natal is now uncontested in her pursuit of the Democratic nomination for Ward 16 alder, there will not actually be a Democratic primary. 

Instead, Natal will simply be the Democratic nominee on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, where she’ll face off against Independent Party challenger Rafael Fuentes.