Albany County Clerk Tom Clingan said he will be seeking re-election for his sixth full term, and he has met with the Conservative, Independent and Democratic parties looking for their support.
Clingan, a Democrat, has served for more than 20 years as clerk the longest tenure in 260 years and said he is looking forward to another campaign.
`It’s a serious responsibility. I’m geared up and ready to go,` he said.
Clingan said his department was the first in the county to have its own Web site and has recently constructed a brand new Hall of Records. Last year, the office took in more than $30 million.
He said opponents in previous elections have primarily come from the Town of Colonie, and that is an area where he has had to do extra campaigning.
`I’ve always had to run a strong door-to-door campaign,` he said. `I’m really looking forward to it.`
Clingan, along with Sheriff James Campbell and coroner Paul Marra, both Democrats, have seats that are up for election this year, according to the Albany County Board of Elections.
Democratic Party Chairman Daniel McCoy said all three candidates have received the unanimous support of the candidate review committee. The full committee will vote on May 27, he said.
The Republican Party has not yet announced candidates to oppose the incumbents. Dan Farrell, the executive director for the Albany County Republican Committee, said a decision is expected within the next few weeks.
`We’re going to announce them on a time frame that works best for our candidates,` Farrell said.
He said some `leading candidates have emerged,` but more interviews will be conducted before a final decision is made.
Helen Desfosses, an associate professor of public administration and police at the University at Albany, said the parties have a fairly regular schedule leading up to the September primaries.
`They want to select a slate of candidates to give them a chance before the summer,` she said.
She said they try to find candidates in time for the summer so they can go collect the needed signatures and begin campaigning, but they do not want to announce their slates too early, since voters are not yet paying attention.
She said the parties are not usually concerned with making their announcements before or after the other party, and generally are not concerned with stealing each other’s spotlight.
`The two parties run pretty independently of each other already,` Desfosses said.
She added that a common tactic by candidates is to interview for party nominations they are not expecting to make connections with party leaders or advance their political careers.“