Democrat hopefuls in the 110th Assembly race are officially candidates after submitting designating petitions with enough signatures to get on the Sept. 13 primary ballot. Candidates for Albany County District Attorney also got their signatures in by the Thursday, July 12, due date.
Now, it’s a waiting game.
Albany County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Rachel Bledi said candidates have three days from the filing of petitions to file a general objection against another candidate’s petitions in an attempt to have signatures deemed invalid. She said the board should know by the end of this week whether or not any objections have been filed.
“The onus is on the opponents to go through the signatures,” said Bledi. “In order for us to rule that a petition is invalid, an aggrieved voter or candidate from that district would have to file an objection.”
Bledi said the only time commissioners would invalidate a signature without a formal objection filed is if it’s defective, meaning there’s a “glaring” error.
“We haven’t yet sat down to discuss and review them,” said Bledi.
Candidates need a minimum of 500 signatures to qualify for the Democratic or Republican lines, 210 signatures to qualify for the Independence line, 67 signatures to qualify for the Conservative line and 12 to qualify for the Working Families line.
The newly redrawn 110th District includes the towns of Colonie and Niskayuna and part of the City of Schenectady. According to the New York State Board of Elections, the 110th has a total of 29,243 registered Democrats, 24,447 registered Republicans, 4,194 registered Independents, 1,333 registered Conservatives and 232 registered Working Families Party members.
Democrat Kevin Frazier, former aide to Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, submitted 2,575 total signatures from voters across the district, with 2,208 being from Democrats and 367 from Independents. More than 1,000 Democratic signatures were gathered in Colonie with 856 and 340 collected in Schenectady and Niskayuna, respectively.
“The numbers clearly show that my campaign is well-organized, enthusiastic and ready to work even harder over the next four months,” said Frazier.
Albany County Legislator Tim Nichols filed 1,225 signatures. He said he would not challenge petitions filed by his fellow Democratic candidates because the decision should be “left to the people to decide on Primary Day.”
Phil Steck, also an Albany County Legislator, submitted “over 1,200 signatures” and qualified to be on the Democratic, Independence and Working Families lines.
“We are confident that these signatures are valid and would withstand challenge from the other candidates’ campaigns,” said Steck.
Niskayuna Supervisor Joe Landry said he submitted more than the minimum number of required signatures on the Democratic line, though he was unsure of the exact number. The Schenectady County Democratic Committee could not be reached by press time.
Jennifer Whalen, the sole Republican candidate, submitted nearly 3,000 signatures and will also run on the Conservative and Independence lines.
“The reception I’ve received in the community has been fantastic so far and I hope to carry this momentum through the primaries and on to the general election in the fall,” said Whalen.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares filed 6,010 signatures, more than three times the number needed to get a spot on the ballot. He’s running on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence lines.
“I am deeply honored by this show of support from all areas of Albany County,” said Soares.
Challenger Lee Kindlon submitted 4,000 signatures and said that number shows “just how many Democratic voters are unhappy with the current District Attorney.”
