Saratoga County gets ready for November races
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The political parties have spent the last few days gearing up for November elections, with the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee naming its candidates and the Saratoga County Republican Committee, its officers.
Pat Tuz, chair of the city’s Democratic Committee, said the party has selected retired energy consultant and founder of Energy Next, Gordon Boyd, to run for Saratoga County supervisor, a seat that current Supervisor Tara Gaston will vacate at the end of her term.
“When Tara Gaston announced she wasn’t running again, we knew we needed to fill the seat with someone capable and willing to campaign hard,” Boyd said on Monday. “I called some people who said the usual stuff, that it wasn’t the right time for them. Then I got a call ... asking me.”
He said his campaign will center on three pillars — democracy, fairness and safety — with an emphasis on housing, funding law enforcement and first responders, creating a county program for those recently released from prison and ensuring that the city has more say on the county’s important committees like Law and Finance.
Tuz said that the committee decided to back all of the incumbents for reelection, too: Ron Kim for Mayor and Jason Golub, James Montagnino, Dillon Moran and Minita Sanghvi for commissioners of Public Works, Public Safety, Accounts, and Finance, respectively. She said that the members of the alldemocratic City Council are getting things done, including working on issues of homelessness, affordable housing and violence on Caroline Street.
The county Republican Committee met to elect Ballston Deputy Supervisor Joe Whalen as chair, replacing Carl Zeilman who resigned from the post in October.
The committee also named Clifton Park GOP Committee Chair Jeff Jones as first vice chair and vice chair of candidate recruitment.
The committee also elected Jennifer Weaver as treasurer, Scott Kingsley as secretary, Justin Baker as vice chair for fundraising and Audra Hedden as vice chair of events.
Whelan did not respond to a Times Union request for comment.