Democracy is not a coup

To the editor:

(re: “Time for Dems to work together,” Jan. 12)

In the Jan. 12 edition of The Riverdale Press, Michael Heller stated that “Betsey Knapp and her acolytes … staged a failed coup to assume leadership of the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club.”

What Mr. Heller refers to is the 2020 annual election for club officers. At that time, several club members challenged the club’s endorsed candidates for those offices. In other words, there could be multiple people running for each office instead of just the endorsees.

The challengers complied with all club rules — they were members in good standing, they collected sufficient signatures on their petitions, filled out required paperwork, and filed with the club prior to the deadline to run in the election.

Mr. Heller, a coup is “a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics, and especially the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group,” according to Merriam-Webster. The point of that annual club election was not to overthrow the government of the club, but to elect it.

It was no coup, Mr. Heller. It was democracy.

Dale Wolff