Sharon Boyd announced over the weekend that she will step down from the chairmanship of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee as her husband seeks the office of the mayor.
I am taking a temporary leave from the position of chair of the City Democratic Committee, Sharon Boyd said. `As you all know, my husband Gordon is running for mayor. This creates obvious complications for me as committee chair, as well as for the committee, our office holders and candidates.`
Sharon Boyd said she will not participate in the executive committee or in any deliberations other than the full committee where candidate endorsements are concerned. `I will continue to participate, however, as a member of the full committee,` she said.
Under the county committee by-laws, through which the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee is presently operating, Sharon Boyd handed the chairmanship over to Lou Schneider, the first vice chair.
Gordon Boyd announced his candidacy at the start of the year. Boyd was one of the leaders of the group SUCCESS (Saratogians United to Continue the Charter Essential to Sustain our Success), which fought against changing the city’s form of government last year.
He said Mayor Valerie Keehn’s vehement pursuit of revising the city’s charter was divisive to the city, and said that he would be able to work across party lines in a way that Keehn has not.
Keehn, a 48-year-old special education teacher, was part of a Democratic slate that won all seven elective offices in the city during the November 2005 elections.
If Keehn runs, it would mark the second time she would face a challenge for the Democratic Committee endorsement. In 2005, former Deputy Mayor Hank Kuczynski won the party’s endorsement.
Keehn, a relatively unknown candidate at the time, staged a successful primary in September 2005 and won the party’s endorsement by defeating Kuczynski at the polls.
Keehn has held a fundraiser for a possible run at the office, but has not yet confirmed her candidacy.
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