, Matt Cook, and Holly Grosch

Although the major parties didn’t hold primaries this year, the endorsements of the Conservative and Independence Parties in Guilderland, New Scotland, and the Hilltowns were decided Tuesday in primary elections.

Upsets occured in Guilderland and New Scotland, where single candidates for town justice secured the nominations of both minor parties.

According to the Albany County Board of Elections, all results are unofficial and the number of votes for write-in candidates have yet to be released.

Guilderland

For town justice in Guilderland, newcomer Denise Randall will run on not only the Democratic ticket, but also the Independence and Conservative lines.

In the town’s Independence primary, according to unofficial results from the Albany County Board of Elections, Randall beat incumbent Steven Simon, a Republican, 72 to 32. Randall was endorsed by the Independence Party.

But, her Conservative victory came as a surprise, as Judge Simon was endorsed by the Conservatives. For that line, Randall garnered 59 votes and Simon got 51.
"I’m deeply gratified by the outcome," Randall told The Enterprise Wednesday. "It really was the result of the hard work of a lot of different people and groups of people."

She thanked her friends, colleagues, the Democratic and Independence parties, and Conservative voters.
Asked what she thinks her victory means, Randall thought for a moment and then said, "It means people were just very responsive to the candidacy. I ran on my record."

Simon could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Randall, an attorney with a firm on Western Avenue, has been the prosecutor in Guilderland Town Court for almost six years.

She has ideas about how to make town court more open and flexible. She also has strong feelings on treating non-violent offenders and sentencing them with restitution, rather than fines.
"It’s important for young people to not just pay a fine and feel they’ve purchased their way out of difficulty," Randall said earlier. "Basically, they’re good people but they don’t understand the impact of things."

Simon has been town justice for 25 years; he says its his experience that qualifies him. He has also had a private law practice for 33 years.
"I enjoy the job and I look forward to being in the court and continuing with enthusiasm to running a court that’s open and accessible," he said earlier.

New Scotland

Incumbent town justice, Democrat Thomas Dolin, has won both the Independence and Conservative line.

Of all the votes cast in Tuesday night’s primary, Dolin received the largest number of votes on a ballot, with 50 New Scotland Conservative voters casting a ballot for him.

According to the board of elections, Supervisor Ed Clark garnered 42 votes in the Conservative primary, candidate Douglas LaGrange running for a council seat, received 44 Conservative votes, and incumbent councilwoman Andrea Gleason received 41 votes. All three are running on the Republican line.

Though the tallies on write-in votes have not been released, it appears that the Democratic candidates who ran a fairly successful write-in campaign will fall short of enough votes to win over a spot on the Conservative ballot.

Hilltowns

In the Hilltowns, primaries for town offices were held in Berne, Knox, and Rensselaerville.

In Berne, according to the Albany County Board of Elections, incumbent Kevin Crosier got 10 votes for the Conservative Party nomination for town supervisor; he is also running on the Republican ticket although he is enrolled as a Democrat. Councilman James Hamilton, a Democrat, got 9 votes for the Independence Party nomination for supervisor.

In Knox, the Conservative and Independence parties’ nominations for tax collector were open to write-in candidates only, so the results were unavailable Wednesday.

In Rensselaerville, according to the county board of elections, incumbent Supervisor Robert Lansing, a Republican, who is running for a council seat, received 11 votes for the Independence Party nomination. He was unopposed. Incumbent Eric Sutton, a Republican, received 11 votes for the Independence Party nomination for assessor.

The Independence Party nominations for a second assessor’s position and town-board seat were open to write-in candidates.

Sean McCormick, a Democrat, received no votes for the Rensselaerville Conservative Party nomination for assessor. The Conservative Party nominations for a second assessor’s position, supervisor, and town-board seat were open to write-in candidates, with results unavailable Wednesday.