ALBANY COUNTY — The obvious and much-covered primaries in New York are for the office holders. But who chooses the candidates and sets their policies"

The state-wide committees for the parties.

A rare challenge for a Democratic party position has forced a primary that will not only help shape the party’s future, but the winners will help choose New York’s presidential candidate for 2008.

Assemblyman John McEneny and New Scotland’s Democratic chair, Connie Burns, are challenging Albany City Treasurer Betty Barnette and Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings for spots on the state’s Democratic Committee.

McEnemy told The Enterprise he has never heard of a primary challenge for a party position, but that he wants the post.
"It’s time to stop the backroom deals," he said; he wants to represent all of Albany County’s Democrats.
"They think it’s a position where you get to sit back and be told what to do," Jennings said on Tuesday.

Each assembly district has two committee members, one man and one woman, to represent the party for that particular area. The unpaid positions are usually filled by appointment — unless there is a primary challenge.

The Democratic Committee functions as a policy board for the party.

The positions are for the 104th District, which covers most of the city of Albany, and the towns of Guilderland, New Scotland, Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville, including the villages of Altamont and Voorheesville.

McEneny is currently the assemblyman for the 104th District and is unopposed for re-election this fall.
According to Burns, there was some confusion on who was running for the position and that is why she and McEneny forced a primary. They say that the designation of Barnette and Jennings for the positions was not considered by the executive committee or the full committee, so they considered them "open positions," best filled by Democratic voters on Sept. 12.
"When I decided to do this, I thought I was running against someone named Bridgett Prior," Burns said, adding that she didn’t know who she was.

McEneny and Burns said they didn’t know Barnette and Jennings were running together for the position until they saw their names printed on the committee list.

Jennings told The Enterprise that he has been on the committee for "quite a few years," and that Barnette, who currently chairs the Democratic Party for Albany County, has been consistently active in the party for years.

Barnette, who did not return calls to The Enterprise, is also currently the Albany City Treasurer and holds a state Democratic Committee position.

While both sides say that the party’s best interests need to be served to move the Democratic party forward, the philosophical differences between the two campaigns comes down to city versus non-city issues and the distribution of representation in the county.

Party rules
"Primaries tend to be more philosophical"People forget that I represent not only the city of Albany," McEneny said. "It’s about openness, fairness, and accountability."

Jennings doesn’t see the position that way.
"It’s not about philosophy and its not about geography. It’s about responsibility to the members of the party," said Jennings.

Although both agreed the state’s Democratic Committee helps guide and improve the party, most of the agreement ends there.
"This isn’t just about who the mayor is," said McEneny. "Nobody loves the city more than I, but the future of the county is a future of urban, suburban, and rural; not just the city of Albany."
"My primary responsibility is the mayor of Albany. But as a delegate, my responsibility is to help make decisions about the party, regardless of geography," Jennings responded through The Enterprise.

Burns lives in the town of New Scotland, a once rural area which is becoming suburban. She represented the current campaign by drawing a donkey kicking up its heels.
"I’ve drawn artwork for signs in a lot of grassroot campaigns," Burns said.

Her husband, the late Mike Burns, was a labor leader and fromer Albany Democratic chair.
"I’ve been a Democrat with my husband for the past 30 years," she said.

Burns and McEneny said Frank Commisso, business manager for the Port Authority in Albany, also wanted to represent the same district.
"Betty Barnette apparently just decided that Jerry Jennings would be better than Frank Commisso, who was never told," McEneny said. "Jerry want to restore his Democratic credentials, so he had Betty pick him instead of Commisso."

Commisso could not be reached for comment.

The party’s future

"Assuming we’re successful, we would be voting on the next presidential candidate for the party," McEneny told The Enterprise.
In reflecting on the upcoming elections for governor and attorney general as well as state senate and assembly races, McEneny said, "It’s an exciting time. I think it’s a given that the state is going to move to Democratic leadership on the executive level"But what’s happened in recent years were more and more backroom deals," McEneny said, of his party.

The governor for the past three terms has been Republican; the Senate has a Republican majority and the Assembly is ruled by Democrats. The state government has come under widespread criticism for having legislative initiative decided by just the governor, the assembly speaker, and the senate leader.
"We just want unity at every level," said McEneny. "No more backrooms."

Jennings told The Enterprise that he believes that McEneny is a part of that "backroom" politicking that is commonly found in the state’s legislature.
"Jack works in a system where three men rule. He’s used to taking orders," said Jennings. "He’s part of a broken system that he’s perpetuated, and he should be trying to correct that instead."

McEneny, in turn, accused Jennings of having a shaky party track record.
"This is not a public office. This is a party office," he said. "Jennings endorsed a Republican governor, helped raise money for him, and endorsed a number of ward leaders with Pataki signs on their lawns," McEneny continued. "You can’t raise money for the Republicans and you can’t endorse Republicans"then turn around and say you’re going to run the Democratic party.
"You can’t be a Republi-crat," McEneny continued, "You have to be a Democrat."

McEneny also sited Jennings’s endorsement of Paul Clyne over David Soares for the county district attorney seat after Clyne lost the Democratic Party primary and ran as an Independent.
"Win or lose, you always endorse the party’s choice. That’s the first rule," said McEneny. "Obviously Jennings was not happy with Soares beating his handpicked candidate.
Burns and McEneny see themselves as "balancing the representation" for the party, bringing in the interest of the suburban and rural Democrats along with city party members.
"When I won my assembly seat over 14 years ago, in the town of Guilderland there was not a single Democratic representative in town. Now, I believe there is one Republic left in town," said McEneny.

He added that the recent suburban shift of Democratic power in towns like Guilderland and Bethlehem, show that voting blocks are moving, and that the party needs to be prepared in order to represent that shift.
"I think there is a real lot of enthusiasm for the party, particularly in the suburbs"I think the big thing will be Spitzer," he said of Attorney General Elliot, who has the party backing in the upcoming gubernatorial primary; Spitzer’s being challenged by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.
"I think it will energize the party like nothing else," said McEneny. " It will bring in new young people, and people who feel that things are already decided and cannot change, but now realize they can."