Filings shape 21st District race
July 11, 2008
The race to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty in the 21st District is officially on.
Four Democratic candidates emerged from the petition-filing deadline Thursday, chopping in half the crowded field that once numbered up to 10 Democratic hopefuls in the most competitive 21st race in more than 50 years.
Another Democratic candidate, Joseph Sullivan, gave assurances earlier in the day that he would file petitions. But the filing did not appear on the state Board of Election’s Web site by close of business, and Sullivan couldn’t be reached for comment.
Former state Assemblyman Paul Tonko boasted the most signatures gained among Democrats, about 7,100 in the seven-county district. The district includes all of Montgomery, Schoharie, Schenectady and Albany counties and parts of Fulton, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.
Tonko also received enough signatures to run on the Working Families Party line.
Democrats Tracey Brooks, who worked as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s regional director, and Phil Steck, who serves on the Albany County Legislature, each said they got about 5,000 signatures. Steck also said he received about 1,000 signatures to run on the Independence Party line in the Sept. 9 primary and in the general election.
Challenger Steven Vasquez would not give a signature number. The minimum required for a major-party line is 1,250. The number for smaller parties is fewer, varying with the parties’ actual enrollments.
Last week, Democrat Lester Freeman dropped out, citing fundraising problems, and endorsed Tonko. On the eve of the petition deadline, three other Democratic candidates left the race, among them Democrat Craig Burridge, who backed Brooks on Thursday.
The three top Democratic signature-getters walked into the state Board of Elections’ second-floor office in Albany about 30 minutes apart Thursday morning to hand in petitions, all of it documented by television news cameras.
The two Republican candidates also delivered their petitions Thursday. Republican Jim Buhrmaster said he gathered 8,000 signatures for Republicans and got enough to appear on the Conservative line.
Darius Shahnifar, a former aide to Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, said he turned in about 2,300 signatures on Tuesday.
Brooks and Steck said they won’t challenge other petitions. Tonko wouldn’t commit to whether he would challenge.
With most of the Democrats calling for an end to the Iraq war, fixing the energy crisis and bringing more health care to Americans, the candidates are largely separating themselves on their backgrounds.
Steck said he’s the only government outsider, pointing to Tonko’s state role and Brooks’ work with Clinton. Brooks said she’s the only one, through her previous jobs, to have connected with people in all seven district counties. And Tonko, while saying he isn’t resting on his exposure gained during 24 years in the Assembly, said he’s the only one who has experience working in a higher elected office.
On the Republican side, Buhrmaster said he isn’t dissuaded by the district’s Democratic slant, a 41 percent to 28 percent voter enrollment edge over Republicans. He said so many voters are disenfranchised by all parties that he feels he’s just as attractive a candidate as any Democrat.
Source: Times Union
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