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Lapidus decides against bid
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After weeks of speculation, a University of Wisconsin student and former candidate decided not to run for the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 2008.
UW junior David Lapidus had been considering the option for a few weeks, but has decided against running after weighing personal factors. He ran for the board in 2006 but was beat out by Ashok Kumar, who has since been the representative for District 5, which includes the UW campus.
Lapidus said his main reasons not to run included the possibility of affecting his preferred summer internship — which could be outside of Madison — schoolwork, extracurricular activities and social life, and also the possibility of serving in the military after his graduation, which would overlap his duties on the board.
"Even in the face of all those costs, it was really a 50-50 decision because I have a lot of passion for wanting to run," Lapidus said. "These reasons were too much, I had to give in to the logic instead of the passion."
Lapidus is a former Student Services Finance Committee member and part of the Associated Students of Madison council nominations board.
Kumar said he thought Lapidus would run and said he thinks of him as honest but "too fiscally conservative for the district."
"I'd like David Lapidus to reconsider because he brings a lot to the political discourse on anything he gets involved in," Kumar said. "He's brilliant and has a lot of integrity, but at the same time I don't think his politics are right for the district."
Kumar said the district has been historically progressive, and Lapidus would have a hard time winning the 2008 election.
Lapidus said he will continue to be involved in campus politics and would like to get involved in policy making at the city and county level.
"[I will be doing] mostly community organizing, continuing my work with Vets for Vets, People Opposing Prejudice, and would like to get a good Middle East speaker on campus," Lapidus said.
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Yay david!
The guy was going to get whooped again, so this isn’t really a surprise.
David is one of the most intelligent, nice, thoughtful people on campus.
How is someone NOT doing something news?
That’s too bad. I was looking forward to seeing Lapidus get trounced again.
Lapidus would have not only won, but really exposed the far-left of campus and dance on the political grave of PD. He was being backed by many college democrats. Didn’t Lauren Woods learn her lesson?
This is a dumb story. nobody but you political geeks care!
David, it’s an honor to know you. Congrats on whatever you do.
This is disappointing, as it would have been fun to vote for David again. But ultimately it’s good to see that David is staying out of politics for a while and turning his attention to other important matters. He’s one of the most brilliant and dynamic people I know.
It’s funny to read the cynicism of the poster who suggests that David would “get whooped again” if he ran. Of course he would. But he knows the city he does business in — that’s the point, really. Only the most shallow and myopic of people would think that David’s self-esteem is forever tarnished by his loss to Ashok Kumar, or that losing a local election is more important than having coordinated a robust electoral effort in hostile territory. Good luck, David.
David, it’s a shame you are not running again. I think you would’ve had a good chance at winning this time. I respect and thank Ashok for his thoughtful and complimentary comments. He too is pretty impressive.I do think Dane County might be ready for someone of your ilk. I’m not sure that it really matters which side of the political spectrum one is on for a position of this nature. What matters is making the time and having the committment and the creativity to get the job done for citizens of Dane County at the local level.
David, I wish you would run. Remember, as you said in 2005, you can make progress for Madison and Dane County as a team, not necessarily as a political party. This is local politics. It should not be polarized. I hope that you change your mind and work on behalf of the residents of Madison and the students and faculty of the University of Wisconsin. Happy 21st on December 7th.