NEW SCOTLAND – Republicans and Democrats here will vie in the Sept. 18 Conservative and Independence party primaries to secure the small-party lines in the November general election.

The town board currently has three Democrats and two Republicans and, although fewer than 1-percent of New Scotland voters are enrolled in small parties, an alternate line often attracts many more voters on Election Day.

Five candidates are listed on the Conservative ballot for the Sept. 18 vote – Douglas LaGrange, a Republican, for town supervisor; Deborah Baron, a Democrat, for town board; Gary Schultz, a Republican, for town board; Charles Voss, a Republican, for town board; and Diane Deschenes, a Democrat, for town clerk. Write-ins are offered for all categories of office because of opportunity-to-ballot petitions.

Four candidates running for two town-justice positions will be on the ballot in both the Independence and Conservative primaries. The two Republican candidates are incumbent Margaret Adkins, and John Keenan III. Brendan O’Shea and incumbent David Wukitsch will be running for judge as Democrats.

The town board appointed Wukitsch in May after the late-March resignation of Democrat Thomas Dolin, who is running for town supervisor.

Candidates running for judge collect signatures and submit a nominated petition; they don’t need the permission of the party, and therefore, the names of all the candidates can appear on the primary election ballot.

According to figures provided by the Albany County Board of Elections, New Scotland is divided roughly into thirds — 35 percent of registered voters are enrolled as Democrats, 29 percent are enrolled as Republicans, and nearly 36 percent of voters are not enrolled in a party. Less than 1 percent of New Scotland voters are enrolled in one of the small parties.

Because more than one-third of New Scotland voters have no large-party affiliation, the small parties are an important factor in the outcome of an election.

The Democrats

The New Scotland Democratic Team, as the candidates refer to themselves, is made up mostly of incumbents. Dolin, a lawyer, is making his first run for supervisor, and will be joined by O’Shea, also a lawyer, and the only other new candidate.
Democrats up for re-election include: Deschenes for town clerk; Baron, a school secretary, and Richard Reilly, a lawyer, for town board; and Darrell Duncan for highway superintendent. Wukitsch, a lawyer, is running to keep his appointed seat for town justice.
"If you look at the qualifications and experiences of the candidates, they are the strongest candidates, in my memory, that the Democrats have ever run," said L. Michael Mackey, the town’s Democratic Party chair. Dolin "has a tremendous amount of municipal experience. His background is really, I think, unparalleled," said Mackey.
"They should all appeal to Conservative voters," he said of the entire slate of candidates.

The biggest campaign issues generally tend to be development and land-use, providing municipal services, specifically water and sewer, and, at the same trying to keep taxes low, Mackey said.
The Democrats "really want to encourage light industrial and commercial development," said Mackey, adding that this type of expansion tends to ease taxes.
"That issue appeals not only to Conservative voters, but to everybody in the town," he said.
The town needs to implement a plan of "controlled growth to help alleviate the tax burdens" without changing the fundamental character of the town," Mackey told The Enterprise earlier.
"I know that the feeling of the candidates is that the town does need some growth, particularly commercial growth," he said earlier.
In Dolin’s mid-May announcement of his run for supervisor, he stressed the importance that the town enact "a policy of smart, controlled, responsible growth."
Mackey said this week that all the candidates are committed to seeing that the town gets development that fits in with the existing character. They are also "cognizant of keeping a lid on town expenses," he said.
Mackey said that he doesn’t believe that the proposed senior-housing overlay zone will turn into a large campaign issue, but added, "You never know."

The town board has divided along party lines over the bill. With Baron abstaining because her husband would be the contractor on a development that could proceed if the bill passes, the current board may be deadlocked on the issue.
In any election year, Mackey said, "There’s a potential that any issue surrounding town government can become a campaign issue."
People who once supported the proposal, "sometimes change their minds," Mackey said. In the midst of a campaign, a candidate may "oppose something they earlier supported, and, sometimes that has the potential to turn it into a campaign issue," Mackey said.

The Republicans
The Republican candidates refer to themselves as: Team New Scotland. "It’s not about our party, it’s about our town," said LaGrange, who spoke to The Enterprise as a candidate and the vice-chair of the town’s Republican Party.

The party is in the process of appointing a new chair, he said.

The current supervisor, Ed Clark, who ran successfully for three terms on the GOP line, is stepping down.

The slate includes: LaGrange, a farmer and current town-board member, running for supervisor; Charles Voss, a professional planner and current planning-board member, running for town board; Gary Schultz, a businessman, running for town board; Penny Barone, running for town clerk; Margaret Adkins, a lawyer, running for re-election as town judge; and John Keenan III, also a lawyer, running for town judge.
LaGrange, Voss, and Schultz "went through the rigors of the interviews" for the endorsement of the Conservative Party, said LaGrange. The Conservative Committee liked the candidates and endorsed them, he said, adding that the Conservatives also endorsed Baron, a Democrat. The process is "basically pretty fair," he added.

The Republicans are running on a platform emphasizing economic development, planning for the future, and making Town Hall more accessible to the public, said LaGrange.

It is crucial, he said, to focus town energy on formulating an economic development plan. He urges the town to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive one.
"Rather than just vote along party lines," he said, "we’ve got to work together."
Senior housing is a "very important" issue in the town, but "it’s not a campaign issue," LaGrange said.
"I don’t think it’s proper to claim it as a political pawn," he said. "It’s not fair to the seniors, it’s not fair to what’s right for the town, and it’s not fair to the public," he said.
The town needs to implement affordable senior housing, to "keep people from having to leave our town, and not just import more affluent seniors," LaGrange said.
"Let’s not make it political," he said.

Independence Party
"The Independence line, shall we say, has become a stronghold for the Democrats in town," LaGrange said. "I chose not to try to primary the Independence line," he said.

The Republicans filed no petitions for opportunities to ballot, said Mackey this week. The Independence Party has endorsed Dolin, Baron, Reilly, and Deschenes, he said.
The Independence Party’s central mission is to "restore Democratic choice and electoral accountability," according to the New York State’s party website. "In effect, our current two party system has proved a monumental failure in the most essential public function it performs — the representation of what Americans want from government," the website states.
"I suggested we not waste time pursuing a line that is unpursuable," LaGrange told The Enterprise about the collective decision of the Republican candidates to not seek the Independence Party line.

Two years ago, when LaGrange ran for his town board position, he sought the endorsement of the Independence Party, and mailed letters to all the town residents enrolled in the party, he said.
In the letter, he said, he asserted his belief that there are three categories of people enrolled in the Independence party. The first group includes people who know what the party is about, he said. The second group contains those individuals who sign up thinking that enrolling in the Independence Party makes them "independent" of party politics, said LaGrange. And the final group, he said, is made up of people who are loyal to either Republicans or Democrats, and enroll in the Independence Party to vote in the primary and "steal" the line for their big party.
"It’s unfortunate, because it’s disingenuous," LaGrange said. "It doesn’t seem like it should go on in our town," he added.