Who will run to replace McNally? (UPDATED)

Now that Rensselaer County District Attorney Rich McNally is headed to the Supreme Court bench, chatter is starting about who will run next November. That, and a commenter asked me if I had heard anything is why I write this.

As near as I can tell, the position of DA goes to the number two in the office, who is now Arthur Glass, until the governor appoints a replacement, which may or may not happen. Regardless of if that happens or not, there will be an election in November 2014 for a full four year term. obviously, the Dems, through McNally, can appoint who they want and then that candidate can run as an incumbent which is a near-automatic advantage in any campaign. 

ABELOVE

LAQUIDARA

While there are no solid candidates as of yet, on the Democratic side it appears Carmelo Laquidara is the front runner. He is a well-respected jurist in the City of Rensselaer who narrowly lost a primary for Rensselaer County court to Troy City Court Judge Christopher Maier.

Amy O’Connor was also mentioned as a candidate but she had a mishap involving the Lucas Confectionary wine bar, prescribed pharmaceuticals and parked cars over the summer so running for the county’s top law enforcement officer is a tough go, for a while anyway.

I’ve really heard of no other candidate outside of Glass, but he’s a longshot at best.

On the flip side of things the names who immediately come to mind are attorneys Joe Ahearn (left), Greg Cholakis (Right and Joel Abelove.

Ahearn said he is keeping his options open but I don’t think he’ll run and I feel the same way about a possible Cholakis candidacy. So, I at this early point in time it’s Abelove, who McNally beat by a sizable margin last year.

I know it’s early and we haven’t even celebrated Christmas yet but I’m predicting this race will be hotly contested and fun to watch. The Democrats have had a tough time county-wide yet McNally beat Cholakis in a tight race that went to absentees in 2007 – a race brought into question two years later after voter fraud broke and one of McNally’s most loyal operatives, Bill McInerney, admitted to forging hundreds of absentee ballots.