There is no clear winner in the Democratic primary for Bethlehem Town Board.
With former Town Supervisor Jack Cunningham bringing in 1,580 votes in Thursday’s election, Reform Democrat candidate Bill Reinhardt held a slight lead with 1,673 votes. According to the Albany County Board of Elections, 250 absentee ballots will still need to be counted before a winner is declared.
Cunningham said his campaign made it a point to encourage residents to obtain absentee ballots if needed. In total, 352 absentee ballots were requested within the town.
“Some people might say the word of the night is reform. I certainly don’t know about that, but there has been a bit of change,” said Cunningham, referencing the significant numbers of Democratic Committee seats within the town that were won by Reform-backed candidates.
Cunningham said he was proud to have run a positive campaign and added it helped people to recognize the type of person and politician he is.
“I ran a tireless campaign,” he said. “I think some people have embraced a message of reform and I think really at this point we are going to have to see what reform looks like in the coming weeks.”
Reinhardt said on Thursday he was optimistic he would come out on top.
“I think people want to see new ideas and some new perspectives,” he said. “I think people liked my thinking about the future and the need to plan beyond the current budget,” including sustainability and “going green.”
Cunningham said he would not have run his campaign any differently, while Reinhardt said he wished he had gotten out more to speak with residents.
He added the strong voter turnout means people want to see change within the Bethlehem Democratic Party. Several notable committee members may have lost their positions depending on the absentee count, including town and county Democratic Committee Chairman Matthew Clyne (who was one vote shy of retaining his committee seat), Town Board Councilman Kyle Kotary and Town Clerk Nanci Moquin. Cunningham held on to his committee seat. All said, Reform-backed candidates claimed 28 seats on the 62-member town committee, according to unofficial results.
The Bethlehem Reform Democrat movement began in May of this year. Group organizers said they were frustrated with the inner workings of the town’s Democratic Party and did not like the direction the party was headed. They claimed the point was “not to form a new party, but to be proud of and participate in” the current party.
Supervisor John Clarkson has endorsed the movement and said he feels Reinhardt would be an asset to the board. On Thursday evening, he called the results “dramatic.”
“I think it’s healthy to have a lot of new people involved in the committee and I heard from a lot of people, including Matt Clyne and other leadership figures, that they had trouble getting people to run. So we have solved that problem,” he said.
Cunningham said no matter who wins, the party now needs to come together to focus on beating Republican candidate Jeremy Martelle in November. Reinhardt agreed, adding he feels the Reform movement has done good for the entire party.
“I talked to many disaffected residents who want to participate in the party because of the changes that happened tonight,” he said. “I talked with Independents who now want to become Democrats because of the changes that happened tonight, and I’m very excited about that.”
Cunningham holds the endorsement of the town’s Independence Party, meaning he will still be on the general election ballot regardless of the primary’s outcome.
Martelle said now that the primary is over, the “real choice begins” for the town’s voters. He said Bethlehem needs new leadership, and questioned if that could come from the Democratic Party.
“We need someone who will bring a balanced approach and new ideas to our town government,” he said.
In the meantime, Cunningham and Reinhardt will need to wait at least a week to find out the official winner of the primary. Absentee ballots within Albany County were opened starting Friday, Sept. 14. The general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
