The Bethlehem local elections are shaping up, as candidates have submitted their petitions of resident signatures in order to get their names on the ballot. According to the Albany County Board of Elections, 16 people are in the running for six positions, with seven primaries brewing. At the moment, there are primary races for the positions of supervisor, Town Board councilperson, superintendent of highways, town clerk and town justice. However, election officials expect one candidate’s petitions will be disqualified.
Petitions submitted by Republican supervisor candidate Jared King are expected to be thrown out after the county Republican Committee presented evidence King’s primary residence is in Coxsackie. King, who maintains he lives in Delmar, was removed from the county’s voter rolls, a decision he has since appealed. Counsel to the Albany County Republican Committee Bryon McKim, who is also a committee member hailing from the City of Albany, said three registered voters in town have come forward with objections to King’s petitions. They are now filing formal complaints. “On their face, the objections are because Jared doesn’t live at the address he reported to,” said McKim. “But there are smaller problems, like there are about 10 pages with no complete witness statement, which is a requirement.” King also carried petitions for superintendent of highways candidate Howard Hyer. McKim said he does not believe Hyer’s petitions will be impacted by challenges to King’s candidacy because of a previous precedent in which other candidates on the same petition are fine if the candidate didn’t realize something was wrong. All decisions are ultimately up to the county Board of Elections. The winners of the September primaries will go on to appear on the corresponding party lines in the November general election. The current slate of candidates
• Democrats:
Supervisor – John Clarkson
Town Board – Bill Reinhardt and Julie Sasso
Superintendent of Highways – Brent Meredith and Frank Zeoli (primary)
Town Clerk – Nanci Moquin
Town Justice – Matthew Kelly and Andrew Kirby (primary)
• Republicans:
Supervisor – Fred DiMaggio and Jared King (primary)
Town Board – Dan Cunningham and Linda Jasinski
Superintendent of Highways – Terry Ritz and Howard Hyer (primary)
Town Clerk – Melanie Calzone
Town Justice – Dale Denoyers
• Independence:
Supervisor – Fred DiMaggio
Town Board – Dan Cunningham and Linda Jasinski
Superintendent of Highways – Terry Ritz and Frank Zeoli (primary)
Town Clerk – Nanci Moquin
Town Justice – Matthew Kelly, Andrew Kirby and Dale Denoyers (primary)
• Conservative:
Supervisor – Fred DiMaggio
Town Board – Dan Cunningham and Linda Jasinski
Superintendent of Highways – Terry Ritz
Town Clerk – Melanie Calzone
Town Justice – Dale Denoyers and Matthew Kelly (primary)
• Working Families:
Supervisor – John Clarkson
Town Board – Bill Reinhardt
Town Justice – Andrew Kirby