Originally Posted by
iaflyer
Yes, but if the Capt rep is running, which I think is the case mostly, the FO rep generally moves up to the Captain position in the next election if they can. So the FO rep has a vested interested in the Capt rep moving on up.. I'm in the same positions as CX500T - I did write the FO rep and say who I preferred he vote for. Do I think it will change anything? Eh, we'll see.
I think there is a little something to this, but even more influencing is "council solidarity". They don't always vote in lock step, but unless there is a preexisting animus (a la C44 several years ago), there is a lot of relational inertia/pressure for council members to 'support' their own guy/gal.