"I Come to Bury Him, Not to Praise Him:" Ringing Down the Final Curtain on Team Gantt

David Gantt was a fixture in Rochester politics for fifty years.

Starting out as an angry young Black man who was tired of Black folk being patronized by White politicians, he carved out a career of influence in the New York State Assembly, getting re-elected year after year.

In Rochester, he became a power broker for politicians, usually Black, who sought election to public office. He was also a mentor to most of the current crop of Black elected officials in Rochester.

To do so, he had a head-on collision with the White, elitist Morelle faction of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, since they exemplified the patronizing White politicians of Gantt's youth.

The kindest thing I can say about the Morelle faction is that they resembled the British Liberal Party of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, whose patronizing attitude towards the poor and the working class forced those people into the Labour Party.

It is that attitude that disrupted Rochester's political life for the last thirty years, each faction blaming the other for the discord.

Among his acolytes, Gantt was presented as a kindly, though firm, grandfatherly figure who was modest, mawkishly sentimental and could cry fluently on public occasions (when necessary). It made him a much respected and admired man within most of Rochester's Black community.

In this, he resembled Meyer Lansky.

He was also a controlling, domineering man who would brook no disobedience to his leadership. A cranky old Black man who, when holding court, would tolerate no absences from those invited to worship at his altar and gladly accept the tasks he would dispense in return for his favor.

Or else.

In this, too, he resembled Meyer Lansky.

Not to mention his rather shady real-estate deals that enriched him enormously. While legal, they seemed unethical. It raised red flags among his opponents, but drew no criticism from his horde of admirers or those who depended upon his largesse to survive politically.

A skillful, though blatant, player of the race card, he made himself the Godfather of the Ghetto. And only in the ghetto. Because, if he had no scruples, he had plenty of prejudices, notably towards Whites, Hispanics and gays. His chosen candidates, notably Lovely Warren, were hard-pressed to overcome the attitudes of those groups and to slightly distance herself from his obvious distaste for them.

Which is why his attempts to get his chosen, loyal servants elected to offices outside of his domain usually failed, although his only achievements in that respect were to get his employee elected Mayor of Rochester and another worshipper elected chairperson of the Monroe County Democratic Committee.

Those two events were the zenith of his career. He would go no higher, try as he did, although it was also clear that the Morelle faction was losing steam in Rochester. That should have been some consolation to him.

But, all good, or even mediocre, things must come to an end.

David Gantt built better than he knew. By creating a totally subservient cult around himself, none of his people in elected office could think or act independently of his wishes and whims. His people depended on his oversight and control. His opponents knew that, without Gantt's iron fist to control his people, it would only be a matter of time after his departure from this world that Team Gantt would collapse.

The incredibly stupid actions of Team Gantt made it appear that they were only to happy to fulfil the wishes of their opponents, though that was not their intention, and even more quickly than their opponents had hoped for.

For several years, Gantt's health was poor. Though re-elected several more times before his death, he was to ill to go to Albany, giving his subordinates there his orders by phone.

And he was too jealous of his power to train and acknowledge a successor to the political dynasty he created.

That could only lead to problems in the future, and the future was not far off.

In 2020, Gantt realized he was too ill to run for his assembly seat again. In fact, Gantt was tottering towards the tomb and endorsed County Legislator Ernest Flagler-Mitchell to run for his seat, while not acknowledging him as successor to the leadership of Team Gantt. In the end, which was not far off, he acknowledged nobody to hold the reins of power.

Then, everything went wrong.

Ernest lost the Democratic primary that year to an unknown Black man not affiliated with either faction.

Mayor Warren's candidate for a State Assembly seat held by long-time opponent Harry Bronson lost to the incumbent.

Power was finally slipping from David Gantt's increasingly failing grasp. He had become an anachronism and hopelessly out of tune with even Rochester's Black community. Nor did he realize the chaos that his actions, and those of his elected people, were causing in the body politic of Rochester.

Fortunately for Gantt, he died before the votes from the primary were tallied. He didn't realize that the end of his political machine was coming hard and fast. That foreknowledge would have destroyed him even if he had not been ill.

Ironically, he died on the First of July, the birthdate of his greatest creation, Lovely Warren.

Within a year, all but two of Team Gantt would be swept from power: County Legislator Calvin Lee and NE District City Councilman Mike Patterson. The former did not choose to run for re-election and the latter was not up for re-election.

On June 22, 2021, the bulk of his Team were defeated in the Democratic Primary Election, largely because of scandals of their own making. The voters had had enough of them and their antics and chose candidates, for better or worse, who were not affiliated with either faction.

Team Gantt effectively died with David Gantt, since he was the only thing holding it together.