COLONIE – A five-year member of the Town Board switched his political affiliation from Republican to Democrat.
David Green said he did it for practical reason, like the fact Albany County is dominated by Democrats, and philosophical reasons, he doesn’t like Pres. Donald Trump.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunities that await me in the Democratic Party and I’m very proud of the relationships I have with my fellow town employees and other elected officials,” he said. “And I don’t like the direction the [Republican Party] is taking.”
After losing a bid to the board in 2013, Green, an attorney, was elected in 2014 to a three-year term after a vacancy occurred. In 2017, he won a full four-year term to the board. Of the six candidates running for board in 2017, he tallied the second largest number of votes with 17.76 percent. Democrat Linda Murphy had 16.97 percent while Democrat Melissa Jeffers VonDollen led all candidates with 18.1 percent.
Green is rarely at odds with Paula Mahan, the Democratic Party supervisor, and has voted with her agenda more often than not. He also maintains a good relationship with other Republicans on the Town Board and has close ties to the Independence Party.
There was some talk of Green switching parties to become a judge in the Democratic Party-dominated City of Cohoes, but while he said he was, at one time, interested in that position, it is not the primary reason he changed parties.
In the future, though, he said, if he did have ambitions of becoming a county judge or getting any sort of public sector position, being a democrat in Albany County makes that road much easier to travel. Even the demographics in Colonie, once a bastion of Republican strength, have shifted, and Democrats now outnumber Republicans.
Right now, Democrats outnumber Republicans on the Town Board 4 to 3 with Green, Jennifer Whalen and Chris Carey in the GOP, and Mahan, VonDollen, Linda Murphy and Paul Rosano in the Democratic Party.
Green’s change in enrollment won’t take effect until after November’s election so what it means to the political breakdown on the Town Board is an open question. Carey is up for election, Whalen opted to run for Albany County Legislature instead of Town Board and a seat held by Democrat Paul Rosano is also up for grabs.
