GOP leaders back upstate judge for Supreme Court seat
Republicans in New York’s sevencounty Third Judicial District have endorsed a Colonie town justice as their candidate for state Supreme Court.
Peter Crummy was backed unanimously by the counties’ Republican leaders, according to statement issued by Ulster County GOP Committee Chairman Roger Rascoe.
Crummy will run for the seat currently held by Ulster County resident Karen Peters, who is retiring this year. New York mandates that state Supreme Court
judges retire no later than the end of the year in which they turn 70.
Rascoe said Crummy was chosen
from “a couple candidates that came forward.”
“He’s a very experienced and a very good jurist right now,” Rascoe said Tuesday.
Rascoe said no one from Ulster County was interested in running for the seat.
“There were Republicans that looked at it and were interested but due to personal circumstances decided not to run this year,” he said.
According to Crummy’s online resume, he has been a justice in the Albany County town of Colonie since 2000, a court he describes as “one of the
busiest courts in the state of New York.” He also has served as an acting City Court judge for Albany, Cohoes, Hudson and Troy.
A private-practice attorney in Albany, prior to be elected to the bench, Crummy was a member of the Albany County Legislature and was a prosecutor in both the Colonie and the Menands traffic courts. He also served as Colonie town attorney and as attorney for the
Colonie Zoning Board of Appeals.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a law degree from Albany Law School.
Rascoe said although the judicial convention at which the party will officially choose its candidate won’t be held until after the primaries in September, GOP leaders wanted to act early in order to give the party’s candidate enough time to raise money and campaign.
The Third Judicial District comprises Ulster, Greene, Columbia, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Albany counties.
State Supreme Court justices are elected to 14-year terms and generally preside over civil matters; divorce, separation and annulment proceedings; and sometimes criminal prosecutions of felonies.
Currently, state Supreme Court justices are paid $193,000 per year.