COLONIE – Colonie Democrats have tapped a union electrician, an environmental engineer, and a local businessman and community leader for their three-candidate 2023 town council slate. The Colonie Democratic Committee endorsed Paul Nylin, Aseem Kumar and Zubair Ahmed for four-year terms on the town board.
“These endorsements respond to Colonie voters’ demand for experienced, pragmatic and community-oriented candidates,” said Ryan Horstmyer, chairman of the Colonie Democratic
Committee. “Paul, Aseem and Zubair each have a track record of getting important things done
in business, government and our community. And each is committed to a bi-partisan approach to keeping Colonie an affordable and great place to live.”
Nylin is an assistant business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 236. He is a graduate of Colonie High School, and in 2015 completed the Tri-City Joint Apprenticeship Committee’s (Tri-City JATC) five-year Journeyman Wireman Apprenticeship Program. He also received leadership training from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is currently taking private-sector labor law coursework there. Nylin is also an Albany County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) member.
Kumar has worked for three decades as an engineer in the Division of Water at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Kumar also serves on the state committee for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is an active member of the New York State Soil and
Water Conservation Committee. He received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in India, where he was born. After college, he worked for a Fortune 500 company in India and later did coursework at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Ahmed is an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience buying, selling and renovating properties in the Capital District. Ahmed is a licensed real estate and insurance broker, and home inspector. Between 2014 and 2022, he served on the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Center of the Capital District, including four years as president. He is a graduate of Shaker High School and Empire State College, where he focused his studies on business.
The Democratic Committee is not endorsing a candidate for Town Supervisor, but is focusing on County legislative district races this year. The endorsements for Democratic County Legislative Candidates by Legislative District, are:
District 14: Alison McLean Lane, the incumbent, is seeking re-election.
District 19: Alison Thorne is Assistant General Counsel for the Public Employees Federation (PEF), and a former prosecutor with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office. Thorne is a Shaker High School and UAlbany graduate. She attended Western New England Law School.
District 20: David Mayo, the incumbent, is seeking re-election.
District 21: Ansel Asch is a lifelong Latham resident and 2019 Shaker High School graduate.
He will graduate in May from Cornell University with a degree in Political Science. At Cornell, he serves as President of the Student Union Board.
District 22: Susan Quine-Laurilliard is a lifelong resident of the Birchwood-Vly-Denison Road neighborhood. As an active member of the Birchwood Neighborhood Association and SAVE Colonie, a Partnership for Planning, Quine-Laurilliard has advocated for infrastructure upgrades, improved land use planning, land preservation, environmental protection, and recreational improvements.
District 24: Ellen Rosano has lived in the Town of Colonie for over seven decades. For over 40 years, she worked for Albany County, beginning in the Department of Social Services and later as a caseworker at the Albany County Nursing Home. From 2012-2021, Rosano served on the Town of Colonie’s Conservation Advisory Committee.
District 25: Kyle Simmons is a lifelong Colonie resident and Shaker High School graduate. Simmons is a Certified Financial Planner and licensed investment advisor. He has worked in financial planning for over a decade. He also worked for years as a Tae Kwon Do Master Instructor.
District 26: Linda Murphy is the former Deputy Town Supervisor and three-term Colonie Town Councilwoman (2009-2021).
