Going Hyper Local

Thoughts on Saratoga County (4.00 / 3)

Saratoga Springs took a step back, but it was inevitable.  After Dems swept into control a few years ago, they almost immediately started up with the infighting.  Essentially there are two factions, the entrenched machine folks (led by now former DPW head McTygue) and the reformers (led by now former mayor and DFAer Keehn).  Both sides went a bit whacko, leading to Repub gains in the city.

The Board of Supervisors stayed the same, with Dems losing two spots (including one of the two from Saratoga Springs), but picking up two in other places.

Dem Greg Connors lost the Supervisor's job in Stillwater, which caught me by surprise.

Dem Preston Jenkins (former candidate for County Treasurer, Assemblyman, and many other offices) picked up a win in the Supervisor's race in Moreau.  Great job by the folks in the northern end of the county.

The biggest win in my book is Patti Southworth in Ballston.  The Ballston Dems are the embodiment of people-powered.  I've n ever seen anyone work as hard as Patti worked for get the Supervisor's position.  After losing last year in a special election for Town Council by 5 votes, she cranked it up a notch this year and once again hit every door in the town.  A fantastic win for Patti and the Ballston Dems, and a great victory for people-power and progressives in Saratoga County.

Even with the mess in Saratoga Springs (which I believe will be ultimately good for the party), I think Dems in Saratoga County took a step (albeit a small one) in the right direction.

Next up: Re-elect Kirsten Gillibrand and retire Joe Bruno.

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by: Jrathman @ Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 18:23:25 PM UTC

excellent! (0.00 / 0)

thanks for this.

TODAY is day one. It always is.

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by: phillip anderson @ Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 18:28:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Very good (4.00 / 1)

Glad to hear about the off-setting victories in the other towns in Saratoga County.

And Patti won? That is FANTASTIC! Give her my congratulations when next you speak.

The Saratoga Springs mess is very disappointing but if it results in breaking the McTygue old guard then perhaps it is a silver lining loss.

Who will come out on top in the town party from this? The Keehn faction or McTygue faction? Or something else?

Peace,

Andrew

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by: Andrew C. White @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 03:22:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bad news in Orange County (4.00 / 2)

Greg Townsend (R-Monroe) was elected to fill the seat vacated by the untimely death of Spencer McLaughlin (perhaps the only decent Republican in Orange County, if not in New York State). Townsend had been appointed to the seat, but he gets to keep it now. That splits the Orange County Legislature 10-10 R-D, with the deciding vote going to Michael Amo, a Republican who recently announced he would become an Independent. Amo represents the bloc-voting Hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel, so this places the Orange County Legislature in their hands.

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by: milkbone @ Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 18:31:43 PM UTC

thanks for this (0.00 / 0)

TODAY is day one. It always is.

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by: phillip anderson @ Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 21:30:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Any Chance (4.00 / 1)

you might be able to get your pal Dave to weigh in with his thoughts?  I would hope that he'd have a pretty comprehensive picture of how things played out all over.

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by: The Maven @ Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 22:38:20 PM UTC

Working on it!! (4.00 / 1)

As you might expect, it's a hectic day, but we anticipate having something soon-- making sure it's as comprehensive as possible.

Best,

Claire

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by: Silverleaf @ Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 22:40:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks for sending (0.00 / 0)

this link to a nice state summary of key results.

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by: Andrew C. White @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 03:44:19 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

While we lost in Stephentown and Brunswick (0.00 / 0)

Democrats realized sweeping victories in the City of Troy.

County election results here.

Incumbent Republican Mayor King Tut won but Democrats won 2 of 3 at-large seats including the highest vote getter, Clem Campana, who becomes council President.

Democrats also re-elected incumbents Peter Ryan and Bill Dunne and added DFA-List candidate Ken Zalewski in District 5 and Gary Galuski in nieghboring District 6.

Troy Polloi has more. But a 6-3 Republican City Council is now a 6-3 Democratic City Council.

The County D.A.'s race is neck and neck waiting on absentee ballots to be counted.

A write-in campaign for Supervisor in the Town of Schodack is also neck and neck and waiting on write-in's.

Schodack has been a battle between the Joe Bruno led faction of the Democratic Party and real Democrats. The Bruno faction got our candidates off the ballot but the write-in campaign is one for the history books win or lose.

Democrats narrowly lost a special election for a County Legislature seat formerly held by a Republican who was recently killed in a murder-suicide by his son.

Democrats also picked up a couple seats in the town of Berlin just north of Stephentown but lost in Nassau to the west of us.

All-in-all the Troy victories make this a very successful election for Rensselaer County Democrats.

If Rich McNally can pull out the D.A.'s race then it will be a huge win for us.

Peace,

Andrew

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by: Andrew C. White @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 03:34:52 AM UTC

Really impressed with Troy (4.00 / 1)

both surprised and happy that Troy went the way it did.  Very happy for Zalewski, who I met at a DFHMR meeting, and seems to be a great guy.

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by: Jrathman @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 15:00:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

St. Lawrence County (0.00 / 0)

Upstate Blue has a good wrapup of some of the races in St. Lawrence County.

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by: Jrathman @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 15:01:57 PM UTC