Primary Day
Primary to determine who will be on November ballot
Democratic voters to choose between incumbent mayor, challenger.
City Democratic voters will choose Tuesday between incumbent Mayor Kathy Sheehan and her primary opponent, the Rev. Valerie Faust.
There was minimal inperson campaigning until recently and both campaigns relied heavily on the candidates themselves for funding.
Sheehan raised just over $41,000 in contributions since October and lent her campaign $50,000, according to filings with the state
Board of Elections. She lent her previous campaigns a total of more than $576,000, which has still not been re-paid.
Faust lent her campaign $20,000 and donated another $10,000, according to her campaign finance reports. She raised $160 in contributions, not including her own $10,000 contribution.
The winner of the contest will face Republican Alicia Purdy and independent Greg Aidala in November.
Sheehan, who is seeking a third term, said she offers residents experience and a track record of moving the city forward.
“We worked really hard to, you know, focus on what we needed to do to be more
effective and efficient with our taxpayer dollars,” she said.
In an interview Friday, she pointed to her efforts over the last seven and a half years to fix the city’s fiscal position, as well as address neighborhood issues like street lighting, paving and sidewalks, and infrastructure projects. She also touted increased private investment and new housing.
Sheehan said that in her conversations with residents over the past few weeks, residents have expressed concerns about the increase in violence in the city as well as dirt bike riders disrupting traffic.
If re-elected, Sheehan said one initiative she would purse is using some of the $80.7 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to create a program to increase homeownership rates in the city, with a focus on West Hill, Arbor Hill and the South End.
That program could include the city essentially backing the mortgages banks grant.
“We have to get serious about what that could look like, including working with banks, providing affordable mortgages, grants and really working to ensure that we're doing all that we can to not just get a person into a home but to support them,” she said.
She added that if she won the primary and the general election in November that she would not run for a fourth term. Sheehan previously said she would only serve two terms, but the pandemic caused her to reconsider, and she is running for a third term to see several projects through to completion.
Faust did not return a request for an interview about her campaign.
In a mayoral forum earlier this month, Faust said she was running because the city needed change and was “under heavy pressure.”
“One of the reasons I’m running is because I want to be a bridge builder. The city is so divided, so scattered. We need new ideas, we need innovation.”
Faust reiterated that position throughout the forum, that as mayor she would act as a connector and facilitator to help resolve issues in the city.
Her campaign website says, "Albany is experiencing multiple crises. The need to drastically change our city has never been more urgent. Our campaign will be relentless in showing the dire cost of maintaining the status quo. We will also make our case to voters that a former school teacher, longtime community activist, reverend, and believer in Albany is who we need now to lead our city -- an everyday person to lead everyday residents that deserve much better."
The rest of the ballot will include nine contested city council races and six uncontested wards. Of the 10 incumbents running, five face challengers, including a three-person race in the 3rd Ward.
The city’s three other citywide office holders, Common Council President Corey Ellis, Treasurer Darius Shahinfar and Chief Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, are all running unopposed in their primaries.
Early voting continues 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Albany County early voting sites are: County Board of Elections, 260 S. Pearl St., Albany; Berne Volunteer Fire Company, 30 Canaday Hill Road; Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 85 Elm Ave., Delmar; Boght Community Fire Department, 8 Preston Drive, Cohoes; Guilderland Fire Department, 2303 Western Avenue; and Pine Grove United Methodist Church, 1580 Central Ave., Albany.
Regular polling places are open in the Capital Region on Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. As of Friday morning, 489 city voters had already cast their ballot, according to the Albany County Board of Elections.
Also on the ballot
In other Albany County races, four Democrats seek two seats on the Guilderland Town Council: Paul C. Pastore, Amanda G. Beedle, Christine M. Napierski and Kevin J. Mcdonald. Two seek one seat on the Berne council. Conservative primaries are ongoing for New Scotland supervisor, Douglas E. Lagrange and Erik D. Grissell, as well as council seats. Colonie justice candidates race off in Conservative and Working Families primaries.
Rensselaer County has several Working Families contests, Conservatives choose justices in Grafton, North Greenbush and Sand Lake and a County Legislator in District 2. Democrats pick in County Legislature District 1 and Troy Council 4, 5 and 6. Sunday voting is at Holy
Cross Armenian Church, 255 Spring Ave., Troy; Brunswick Town Office Building, 336 Town Office Road; Schodack Town Hall, 265 Schuurman Road, Castleton; and the County
Board of Elections office at the Rensselaer County Government Center, 1600 Seventh Ave., Troy.
Saratoga County Republican contests are set in Corinth with C. Eric Butler and Jeffrey Collura for supervisor and a contested council race, the same for Providence council and Stillwater town clerk. A Democratic primary is set in Mechanicville for public safety commissioner. There is a Conservative primary for Clifton Park justice. Three candidates will vie on the Working Family line for Saratoga Springs supervisor. Sunday voting is at the Board of Elections, 50 W. High St., Ballston Spa and Clifton Park Town Hall, 1 Town Hall Plaza, Clifton Park.
Schenectady County Democrats will decide on Legislature District 1, Schenectady city council seats and Rotterdam supervisor and justice. Republicans will decide on Rotterdam justice. Conservatives in Rotterdam will decide on Legislature District 4, and Rotterdam supervisor, clerk, council and justice. Conservatives in Princetown and Duanesburg will decide the Legislature District 4 race. Working Families voters will decide on Legislature District 1 in Schenectady and Rotterdam justice candidates. Sunday voting is at Karen B. Johnson Library, Central Branch, 99 Clinton St., Schenectady and the South Schenectady Fire Department, 6 Old Mariaville Road Rotterdam.
For a fuller roster of candidates, see the boards of elections’ websites.