McCoy: Clyne will step down as party chair and BOE commissioner



MCCOY

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, appearing on Talk 1300 Saturday, said Matt Clyne has decided to step down as Democratic Party chairman and from his post as Board of Elections commissioner.

Stepping down as chair - an unpaid, largely thankless job - comes as no surprise after he got trounced in his re-election bid to a committee seat on Primary Day and likely wouldn't win re-election anyway. But as BOE commissioner he earned $88,000 and the spot is filled by Democrats on the Legislature.

Clyne could not immediately be reached for comment.

McCoy would not say who he would like to see as the next county chair or take over as the party’s representative at the Board of Elections. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who has called for Clyne’s ouster and heads up the “progressive” faction of Democrats, could not be reached for comment.

SHEEHAN

The intraparty rift between the old line Democrats, of which Clyne is a part and McCoy is tied into, and the progressive Democrats came to a head when Clyne tried to bounce off the ballot a slate of judicial delegates in an effort to ensure the Supreme Court nomination went to Legislator Justin Cocoran.

The strategy failed, the courts put the ousted slate of delegates back on the ballot and, according to the Times Union, won at least 17 of the 30 primaries. Those delegates will likely back Albany County Family Court Judge Margaret “Peggy” Walsh for Supreme Court at the judicial nominating convention later this month.

Walsh is also running for re-election to her spot on Family Court. It seems to contradict one of the biggest grips Sheehan and the “progressive” faction of Democrats have is that not enough people – read that “their people” – were benefitting from party controlled jobs.

CLYNE

Walsh cannot wear both robes at the same time, so should she get the nod at the judicial nominating convention the Democrats will hold on Sept. 19, she may have to drop out of the Family Court race and allow the committee to fill vacancies to fill the slot. Petitions for the three-person committee were circulated in June along with other nominating petitions.

The organizational meeting, where the party will pick Clyne’s replacement, will occur before the end of the month.

The county committee won’t have the choice of choosing Clyne, but who they do pick could swing towards the “progressive” Democrats or the old guard. Some names bantered about include Common Council President Carolynn McLaughlin, the party’s secretary, who the TU described as not fitting in nicely with either faction and County Legislature Noelle Kinsch, the wife of city Treasurer Darius Shahinfar.

Who is picked for Family Court Judge to replace Walsh is not clear at this time. As is who will replace Clyne at the Board of Elections.

Primary Day winners and losers

I generally save the winners and losers column for New Year’s Eve but this past primary had a bunch of ins and outs and they are all kind of interrelated so it’s better to address them in this context than individually.

WINNERS

Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin: Won a write in for only the second time in the chamber’s history. He soundly defeated Democrat Phil Malone, a member of the East Greenbush Town Board, who got the Independence Party’s endorsement. McLaughlin not only won but he won by a nearly two-to-one margin in Rensselaer and Columbia counties. It’s not clear what happened in Washington County. McLaughlin has been the loudest and most consistent critic of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and that is probably the reason he didn’t get the Independence Party endorsement. He won anyway.

Zephyr Teachout: The Democrat did lose the primary to Cuomo (who will be mentioned below) but she had a hell of a showing in upstate and in particular the Capital Region (also mentioned below) where she trounced the incumbent governor.

Keith Gorman: The attorney running without support from the Democratic Party proper is 34 votes ahead of Corporation Counsel Ian Silverman in their bid to become a Troy City Court judge. I’ve heard he worked his tail off and I’ve also heard kudos goes to his campaign manager, Kathleen Campbell. Absentee ballots will determine who will take the second Democratic Party slot in November.

Chris Maier: He handily won the three-way primary against the two gentlemen mentioned above and that’s without a whole bunch of party support either. He and his wife, Family Court Judge Beth Walsh, just seem to go about their own thing and keep getting elected.

Jill Kehn: The Republican candidate for the judgeship mentioned above will have the Republican, Conservative, Independence, Green and Working Families Party lines come November. And yes, it’s another nod to Crist. There are two open seats on the bench and three candidates on the ballot in November, if the primary results do not change after the paper is counted and the election deemed official.

Rebecca Sweeney: She beat both Democratic Party heavyweights – Chairman Tom Wade and Council President Rodney Wiltshire – in the Rensselaer County Democratic Party Committee primary in Election District No. 8. What’s funny is that she was Wade’s running mate and one of the only reasons she was on the ballot is because she is the daughter to Mary Sweeney – a longtime Board of Elections employee.

Rodney Wiltsire and company: The faction of Democrats who, for the time being, got their city court judge candidate (Gorman) on the ballot and who tied Wade in Election District 8 in a race for the Rensselaer County Democratic Party Committee in the Election District the latter held for decades.

Tom Wade and Company: For holding onto the county committee by winning a number of races against candidates put up by Rodney Wiltshire and company. And, even though Wade tied in his own committee race against Wiltshire, he will likely get appointed to the county committee anyway.

Joel Abelove: The candidate for District Attorney is down by three votes in the Independence Primary against Carmello Laquidara but I’m hearing has an edge with the 212 absentee ballots. Laquidara will not be mentioned below with the losers, however, since the race was and still is pretty tight and I expect the same in the general election.

Rich Crist: The GOP operative had a major role in the Abelove and McLaughlin Independence Party campaigns.

LOSERS

Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Yes, he handily won the Democratic Party primary but he took a beating in the Capital Region. In Rensselaer, Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady County Teachout won by a nearly two-to-one margin. Pundits jumped at the potential reasons and they include the governor’s treatment of labor unions, his unwillingness to decide on fracking and his “my way or the highway,” bullying personality. I happen to think the SAFE ACT has something to do with it but either way, the Guv got trounced around here.

The Capital Region: Since Cuomo is known as an easy going, live and let live, let bygones be bygones kind of guy, I’m sure he won’t withhold any state funding or direct potential funding that could come here anywhere else. For example, maybe, just maybe, the new casino that could go to East Greenbush or the City of Rensselaer will be a shorter ride than Turning Stone – like Howe Caves.

 Tom Wade and company: Their city court candidate (Silverman) is likely off the ballot, their DA candidate (Laquiadara) stands a good chance of losing the Independence Party line and Wiltshire tied Wade in the race for committee in the Election District the latter held for decades.

Rodney Wiltshire and company: They may have done well in other races but they didn’t make too much of a dent in their bid to take over the Rensselaer County Democratic Party Committee. 

  Phil Malone: The candidate for Assembly got trounced in the Independence Party primary by incumbent Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin. And, the East Greenbush Town Board member had the party’s endorsement so his name appeared on the ballot. McLaughlin beat him in a write in.

Ian Silverman: If the primary results remain the same, the corporation counsel will not be on the ballot in November after losing the Democratic Party primary and primaries for all the minor lines.

 

 

 

 

Independence Party snubs Assemblyman McLaughlin

MCLAUGHLIN

 

In his bid for a third term, Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, R-District 107, is forced to wage a write in campaign for the Independence Party line.

Evidently, the party extended his Democratic opponent, East Greenbush Councilman Phil Malone, permission to run on its line but snubbed McLaughlin for the first time in three election cycles.

 An email sent by Troy Chairman Mark Wojcik asks a number of Republican loyalists to volunteer to collect a second round of signatures on McLaughlin’s behalf. The signatures gathered the first time were specifically for McLaughlin to run on the Independence Party line, but they are null and void without the party giving its permission, known as a Wilson Pakula. McLaughlin will now have until July 13 to collect at least 5 percent of registered Independence Party members within the Assembly District who voted in the last gubernatorial election to force an opportunity to ballot, or write in.

“If you can spare 1 or 2 nights we would really appreciate the extra effort for Steve,” Wojcik wrote.

If McLaughlin does get on the ballot – in the form of an OTB, which opens up the ballot for anyone to write in anyone’s name – he still faces an uphill, if not impossible, battle to win the primary in such a fashion against someone whose name already appears on the machine.

MALONE

The Independence Party – which is independent in name alone and infamous for giving (selling) its line to the candidate (bidder) who can give the most in return – is the third largest party in the state and coveted by any candidate. In the 107^th Assembly District there are 26,011 registered Republicans, 25,096 Democrats and 7,304 Independence Party members with 27,536 not enrolled in any party. There are also 3,734 enrolled Conservatives and 854 enrolled in the Working Families Party.

McLaughlin has had the Independence Party’s endorsement in his two successful bids for Assembly – even in 2010 when he unseated the only enrolled Independence Party member to ever get elected to the Legislature, Tim Gordon of Bethlehem. In other words, the Independence Party stands strong for nothing nearing a platform, value or belief.

CONNOLLY

Statewide, the Independence Party endorses Republicans and Democrats equally depending on which candidate has the best chance of success. But, since the party’s vice chairman is Tom Connolly, of North Greenbush, who a decade or so ago pledged his allegiance to the Democrats but now works for the GOP, there is only one reason a local candidate like McLaughlin didn’t get the line this time around – Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

McLaughlin has been the most vocal Republican Cuomo critic in the state, hitting he governor about everything from the SAFE Act to giving state workers time off to watch the USA play in the World Cup. The Melrose resident toyed with the idea of running for the state’s top elected office earlier his year but opted out and Westchester County Executive Rob Astornio took the plunge instead. McLaughlin, however, continues to make statewide news as the party’s defacto attack dog and is constantly nipping at Cuomo’s heels.

Also, the governor has much more to offer the Independence Party than a Republican from Melrose. And the state Republican Party has more important things to worry about - like trying to get Astorino at least a respectable showing as opposed to getting crushed in a landslide and holding onto a semblance of influence in the Senate.

CUOMO

If nothing else, the potential new ballot dynamic is going to make for an interesting race since Malone, already an elected official, will get the WFP line too and McLaughlin’s write in campaign is a longshot at best. That said McLaughlin is popular in his district. Two years ago he ran against Cheryl Roberts, a popular attorney from Columbia County who was backed by the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee to the tune of $300,000, and he beat her by more than 3,000 votes – but he had the I line. It’s unclear if DACC will throw its considerable resources behind Malone.  

The 107h Assembly District includes the majority of Rensselaer County, nearly half of Columbia County and the towns of Cambridge and White Creek in Washington County.

A church and a gun: 'Only in Troy'

If a church anywhere in the state is going to give away a gun - it would be in Troy.

That’s why we call them “Only in Troy” moments.

At first glance, I thought it was a raffle that would certainly raise more money for the Grace Baptist Church than an ice cream social or spaghetti dinner but there won’t be any tickets sold. Rather, names of people at the March 23 service will be put in a hat and the winner drawn at random.  

Also, at first glance, I thought it was an AR-15 since that’s what’s on the flyer that was sent to people across the Capital District. But the gun donated by Brian Olsen, proprietor of the Oakwood Trading Post, is an MSR, or Modern Sporting Rifle. I don’t know the difference except the AR-15 is the controversial weapon ostracized after Sandy Hook and other high profile mass murders.

The pastor, John Koletas, told the Times Union he is just standing up for a person’s Second Amendment rights – which have also come under fire in part by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY SAFE Act. He is also no stranger to controversy, as mentioned in the Times Union as well.

One of the speakers on March 23 is Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, who has been a vocal opponent of the SAFE Act and one of the loudest Republican critics of Cuomo in the state.

McLaughlin was toying with the idea of taking on Cuomo until reality set in – that there is no way an Assemblyman from Melrose could raise the kind of money needed and that few people know his name outside of Albany’s cocoon and his district.  

Now that Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has announced his intent to take on Cuomo in November, McLaughlin could be picked as lieutenant governor. Astornio needs a bomb thrower and McLaughlin has shown he is not afraid to throw some bombs at the governor. Plus, news outlets across the state seem to like the ex-airline pilot and routinely turn to him for the other side of the story or an anti-governor quote.

Whether or not he will be offered the number two slot or if he even takes it if offered is up in the air. While he does bring snappy anti-Cuomo rhetoric to the table an upstate Assemblyman is not a conduit to a bunch of cash. And, if it’s offered and he takes it, he has to give up his Assembly seat.

If he doesn’t go for lieutenant governor or it’s not offered, he is certainly positioning himself as one of the leaders in the state Republican Party.