COLONIE — Incumbent Alison McLean Lane fended off a primary challenge by Danielle Weiss by an unofficial count of 359 to 264 on Tuesday, June 25 according to unofficial results from the Albany County Board of Elections.
For the first time, the state primaries were held in June, in line with the federal political calendar, rather than in September.
McLean Lane won a special election to the Legislature in 2013 and then a full, four-year term to represent District 14 in 2015. She was a confidential aid to Colonie Town Supervisor Paula Mahan and now works for Assemblyman Phil Steck.
Weiss, ventured into politics for the first time by waging the primary, but her father, Jerry Weiss, is a lobbyist at the state Capitol and is a was an advisor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She did her undergrad work at Syracuse University and stayed there to get her law degree. She recently moved back to the Capital District from New York City and has been working at the law firm of Barclay and Damon.
She has only lived in District 14 since November, 2018 and McLean Lane, who lives in Menands, took issue with her longevity.
McLean Lane also fended off a write-in for the Independence Party line by a count of 29 to 6.
District 14 represents portions of North Colonie, Menands and Watervliet.
In another Colonie legislative race, for the open seat in District 24, Democrat Nathan Bruschi won the Independence Party primary by a count of 70-28. Bruschi had the party’s endorsement so he was on the line while the 28 votes against were write-ins, presumably for his opponent, Republican Jeff LaMountain.
LaMountain, though, won the Conservative Party primary by an unofficial count of 17-10. LaMountain was on the line, and the 10 against were write-ins, presumably for Bruschi.
There were seven write-in votes in the Green Party primary but whose name was written in was not immediately known. Neither candidate had the party’s endorsement. The Greens, unlike other minor parties who routinely cross-endorse major party candidacies, only endorse enrolled Green Party members.
LaMountain and Bruschi are vying for the seat being vacated by Peter Crouse and will square off again in November. The district includes roughly the area south of Albany-Shaker Road, west of Osborn Road, north of Central Avenue and east of Wolf Road.
There are 39 Albany County legislators and they each make a base pay of $23,000 per year of a four-year term.
There was also a primary for the Conservative Party in the three seats open on the Colonie Town Board.
According to the Board of Elections, Republicans Rick Field Sr. and Daniele Futia took the two top spots with 99 and 98 votes, respectively, while Democrat Jill Penn took the third with 86. There were 37 write in ballots cast.
There was a four-way race for the Independence Party with Penn getting 159 votes, Futia getting 154, Field getting 140 and incumbent Democrat Paul Rosano getting 124. There were 81 write-in votes cast.
Field and Futia will join incumbent Christopher Carey on the November ballot for the GOP and Brian Austin is the third Democrat along with Penn and Rosano.
In other, countywide, all important Democratic Party primaries, according to unofficial results by the BOE:
—Susan Rizzo defeated Darius Shahinfar to replace the retiring Albany County Comptroller Michael Conners by a count of 9,098 to 8,023.
—Andra Ackerman defeated Holly Trexler for the open seat on the Albany County Court bench by a count of 8,481 to 7,839.
—For the two open seats on the Albany County Family Court, Amy Joyce and Sherri Brooks got 6,792 and 6,736 votes, respectively. The other candidates and their vote totals are: Jennifer Corona, 5,314; Margaret Tabak, 3,887; William Andrews, 3,823; David Levy, 2,329; and Michael Barone, 2,183.
