Called a "slate," the group—Kathleen King, Norman Kline and Nick Streit—is pooling financial and volunteer resources in an effort to make the job of campaigning more manageable. But voters still have the final say of who does and doesn't get elected, be they all, some or none of the slate's members.

Slates have been common in Saratoga city politics in recent years. In at least the past three council elections, candidates who were in slates have had far more success than those who weren't.

In 1996, current Councilman Stan Bogosian ran on a slate with former councilman, and mayor, Jim Shaw, and both were elected. Bogosian ran on a slate again in 2000 with current Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith, and again both were elected. In 1998, current Councilman John Mehaffey and Vice Mayor Evan Baker were elected on a three-person slate, with the third member, Erna Jackman, who is now the chairwoman of the city's planning commission, losing to Streit.

"I ran by myself four years ago, and it's way too much work," Streit said.

"When you run three people as a slate, you have a much better chance to get elected," Mehaffey said. The reason for that is because candidates share the most difficult tasks of campaigning—finding the money and volunteer support to get one's name and message to the voters.

"As a candidate, slates give you an economy of scale in terms of campaign costs," Bogosian said. "It gives you the benefit of using the same volunteers. It's hard finding people that want to volunteer."

Although slate candidates may share costs and the job of handing out campaign literature, they often print their own flyers, brochures and mailings, and they are required to keep separate campaign committees, Bogosian said.

"A slate also links people to a level of understanding, or agreement on certain major issues, but not necessarily specific issues," he said.

While candidates on a slate generally share a similar political philosophy and agree on the larger issues facing the city, it's important for them to distinguish themselves to the voters. That can be hard to do, and while slates are definitely an advantage for candidates, they can be a disadvantage to voters trying to identify those differences, "unless you have an informed and committed electorate," Bogosian said.

The advantages are not lost on this election's other three candidates. Candidate Neil Malhotra said he is in discussions with other candidates Andrew Barnes and Shelley Williams about forming a slate among themselves. Malhotra said he doesn't believe in slates because they are "really against the spirit of elections," but that he feels he, Barnes and Williams are being forced into an alliance in order to compete. He added that the three also share opinions on many of the issues and could benefit from the "financial and symbolic" advantages of joining forces.

"The whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts," Malhotra said. "It's a real easy way to win."