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This belongs to you. Take it back...
Jerry Jennings 
Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 13:36:38 PM EDT
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After Albany Common Councilman Corey Ellis gave Mayor Jerry Jennings the hardest challenge to his authority of his career last month, it remained to be seen whether or not this small defeat could be turned into a greater victory. Or a repeat of history. The usual thing to do against an incumbent like Jennings after even a narrow Democratic Primary defeat is to step aside and just let the Mayor win.
After some weeks of "mulling" whether or not to continue the campaign on the Working Families Party line, leaving progressives wondering what October would bring, and after some fundraising efforts were made, supporters of change in Albany got their answer as to what October will bring today. The Ellis campaign announced the following today:
As Corey Ellis continues his campaign for Mayor through to the General Election on Tuesday, November 3rd, he is urging people to join with him as he addresses Albany City budget issues. Corey has advocated the need for transparent and accountable government throughout his campaign for Mayor. The budget presented by the Mayor last week makes it clearer than ever that we need a change in leadership in Albany.
The first opportunity to be involved is to attend the Albany Common Council caucus today, Monday, October 5 at 5:30 PM in the 2nd Floor courtroom in Albany City Hall.
More details below the fold...
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Tue Sep 15, 2009 at 21:58:26 PM EDT
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The polls have closed in the hotly contested Democratic Mayoral Primary in Albany. The Albany County Board of Elections has begun to post online the first unofficial results of the race.
As of 9:44 p.m., with 44 of 153 (29%) of machines reporting:
Gerald D Jennings (inc) -- 2,537-- (58%)
Corey L Ellis -- 1,778 -- (42%)
The Siena Poll released days earlier showed Jennings a full 21 percentage points ahead. He is currently 16 unofficial points ahead.
Stay tuned...
Update 10:05
As of 10:02 p.m., with 88 of 153 (58%) of machines reporting:
Gerald D Jennings -- 4,736 -- (56%)
Corey L Ellis -- 3,601 -- (44%)
Update 10:18
As of 10:15 p.m., with 113 of 153 (74%) machines reporting:
Gerald D Jennings -- 5,738 -- (55%)
Corey L Ellis -- 4,608 -- (45%)
The unofficial difference is now half what was predicted in the Siena Poll...
Update 10:32
As of 10:25 p.m., with 130 of 153 (85%) machines reporting:
Gerald D Jennings -- 6,718 -- (56%)
Corey L Ellis -- 5,192 -- (44%)
Final Update, 10:43
As of 10:40 p.m., 100% of machines have reported the unofficial results as such:
Gerald D Jennings -- 7,615 -- (56%)
Corey L Ellis -- 5,971 -- (44%)
This is Soundpolitic, signing off.
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Sun Sep 13, 2009 at 18:45:12 PM EDT
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The Democratic Primary for Mayor in our state's capital city is mere days away. In the final days of the campaign, both Mayor Jerry Jennings and challenging Councilman Corey Ellis are making the final rounds before the only poll that matters is conducted on Tuesday.
That includes, as the Times Union reports today, the ubiquitous community block party.
ALBANY -- Mayor Jerry Jennings and Councilman Corey Ellis made a final push Saturday to win supporters by visiting block parties, sporting events and ribbon-cuttings ahead of Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Most of their campaigning, though, was low-key. No dramatic speeches or bullhorns. Just old-fashioned handshakes and pats on the back
Today was no different as both candidates continued their final push and made preparations for Primary Day. I decided to check out one of these block parties after attending some poll watching training for the Ellis campaign.
Little did I know as I set out that I would be able to get a first-hand look at both candidates' styles - and substance - when both Jennings and Ellis showed up at the same block party. For a moment, I smelled tension in the air.
By the end, I smelled something else...change in the air. More on the block party scene and some campaign finance news below the fold...
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Sat Sep 12, 2009 at 15:27:10 PM EDT
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Siena Poll shows Councilman Corey Ellis within reach of Mayor Jerry Jennings
The Times Union has reported the findings of the recent Siena poll of the public in the days before the Democratic Primary for Mayor of Albany. The report summarizes the poll and reporter Jordan Carleo-Evangelist provides some insight as to the findings:
With just three days left before Tuesday's Democratic primary, Ellis trails Jennings, a four-term incumbent, by 21 percentage points -- 54 percent to 33 percent -- with 13 percent of voters undecided, according to a Siena Research Institute poll of 848 likely voters released Friday.
The TU headline reads "Poll Shows Mayor Ahead", which many readers will quickly point out reads slightly differently than that of this post. This is due to the swell of support the Ellis campaign is gaining in the final days before the primary. While the Hearst-owned paper has yet to give its nod to either candidate, the independent press has delievered a resounding endorsement for the Councilman's challenge against the 4-term incumbent:
Sixteen years ago, when the brash, outsider alderman, the loudest critic of City Hall, won a surprise victory against an established leader of the Democratic Party machine, the win was heralded as the end of the political culture that dominated Albany for more than half a century-a culture of backroom dealing, thuggish voter manipulation and cronyism. Sixteen years later, many of the trappings of the machine's power that were supposedly eliminated in a wave of reform have reemerged, and the onetime outsider and reformer-Jerry Jennings-directs a secretive administration from his corner office. Without term limits, Democracy suffers. And it suffers here in Albany. Sixteen years is long enough. It is time to clean out the halls of city power, to bring in new voices, new ideas, new vision, and new leaders. And there is no way better to start this era of reform than with the election of Corey Ellis.
More on the numbers and the strength of the Ellis campaign below the fold...
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Tue Sep 08, 2009 at 14:35:15 PM EDT
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It's a race worth watching.
In the city for which this website is named, a potentially historic election is about to take place in only one week. Next Tuesday, four-term incumbent Jerry Jennings will face his toughest primary challenge in first-term councilman Corey Ellis.
But the story here is bigger than that, and in the next week, I hope to aid in keeping that bigger picture in mind. Things tend to get caught up in too many specifics and whatever is most attention-grabbing in the final days. Below, I'll compile the best of what's been reported on the race thus far.
For starters, Metroland has just printed the premier piece of journalism on the subject. Chet Hardin's cover story this week is appropriately titled The Contender, avaible here to be read in its entirety. Here is where the story reveals itself to be a true story, told in all it's context and subtext, a never-ending tale of rising and falling powers and spirits, the vicious cycle that must be tamed in order to make progress in American politics.
Below the fold, I hope to synopsize this and other recent pieces on the race, compiling them in one place for ease of information gathering as this potentially historic primary fast approaches....
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Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 16:28:00 PM EDT
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On a chilly and blustery afternoon nearly two weeks out from a historic primary to replace retiring Congressman Mike McNulty (D-Green Island), Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings welcomed an array of elected officials, campaign staffers, union members, and regular Democrats like myself to a Unity Rally to support Paul Tonko, Democratic nominee for Congress in New York's 21st Congressional District.
It was the closing moment of a long, hard-fought primary in which five Democrats, including Tracey Brooks, Phil Steck, Darius Shahinfar, and Joe Sullivan (who did not attend) emerged with fewer votes than Paul Tonko, a 23-year veteran of the New York State Assembly and former President and CEO of the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority. Tonko won the primary on Tuesday, Sept 9, with 39% of the vote, a full nine points ahead of his nearest rival.
Cameras were there, alright, but noon-time news reports gave only a few seconds of coverage to the rally. My tape recorder was running the entire time, and below the fold is full coverage of the unity rally for any Democrat who was unable to attend.
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