I contacted the Albany County Board of Elections on July 20 and received a list of all the folks who filed the petitions to vie for office this year. Of course, some are running unopposed in their respective parties.
But there will be some contested races on Primary Day, September 12. The primaries are closed in New York State, which means that only the people registered in the party will vote in that race.
And the deadline for changing party affiliation has long since passed. In fact, if you are an already registered voter in NYS who wants to vote in the 2018 primaries, you need to change enrollment by October 13, 2017!
People can still submit independent nominating petitions in August.
Albany Chief City Auditor
Glen P. Casey (D, I)
Susan A. Rizzo (D, WF)
No matter who wins the Democratic primary, the other candidate will still be on the ballot November 7.
Albany County Clerk
Bruce A. Hidley (D, C, I)
Howard M. Koff (R)
Albany County Coroner (2 positions)
Rahmar J. Lockridge (D)
Paul L. Marra (D, C)
Francis M. Simmons (D)
Charles M. Smoot (D)
Scott A. Snide (R, C, I, Ref)
Benjamin M. Sturges 3D (D, WF)
Why on earth is there such interest in a coroner’s race? Why is this an elected position at all?
City of Albany City Court Judge (3 positions)
Michael S. Barone (D)
Sherri J. Brooks (D)
Lavonda S. Collins (D)
Helena M. Heath (D, I)
James E. Long (D, WF, I)
John J. Reilly (D, WF)
Holly A. Trexler (D, WF, I)
The cross-endorsements might matter to some folks.
City of Albany Mayor
Frank J. Commisso Jr. (D, I)
Bryan J. Jimenez (G)
Carolyn McLaughlin (D)
Daniel J. Plaat (G)
Katherine M. Sheehan (D, WF, WE)
Joseph P. Sullivan (C)
The Democratic primary is going to get only nastier, I fear.
Then there were all the Albany Common Council races, which would take too long to list here. But my district has a primary race for the first time in my memory.
City of Albany Pres. Common Council
Corey L. Ellis (D, WF)
Christopher Higgins (D)
Mark A. Robinson (D)
City of Albany Treasurer
Darius Shahinfur (D, WF, I)
Roberta Sims (R, C, Ref)
There are also races in a half dozen towns in the county.
The designations are actual parties in New York State, based on the success of its candidate in the last gubernatorial election, in 2014. Often, but not always, it is the Democrat or Republican who is cross-endorsed. C is for Conservative, WF for Working Families, I is for Independence, WR is Women’s Equality, R is for Reform.
The Independence Party is one reason why I groan when someone identifies themselves as a “registered independent.” What they usually mean is they are not enrolled in a political party at all, which means they CANNOT vote in the primary in New York State.
The Women’s Equality Party is some weird invention of Governor Andrew Cuomo that’s only been around since 2014.
I’m a registered Democrat in the city of Albany because that’s where the contests are, and I don’t want to disenfranchise myself. It’s likely, OK, REALLY likely, although not certain, that the Democratic nominee will win in November, based on historic precedent.
We have a State Medical Examiner rather than a coroner; it’s not an elective office, and two divisions cover the whole state. (Weirdly, those divisions are the Central Office and the Eastern Office, which correspond roughly to area codes 405/580 and 539/918.)