NEW SCOTLAND — The New Scotland Republican Party has a new chairman, Deane Fish.

“I’m a relatively new member,” Fish told The Enterprise.

Fish, 65, joined the Republican Party as a committee member this year when a volunteer brought him election petitions, he said. He and his wife built their home in New Scotland in 1990.

“I signed, we talked a little about politics,” he said. “I became a committee member, and progressed to become the chairman. I knew folks on the committee. I enjoyed the committee very much.”

Part of that discussion included a lack of Republican support in New Scotland, he said.

“We’re out-enrolled,” Fish said.

Republicans make up 24 percent and Democrats 37 percent of registered voters in New Scotland. Another 27 percent are unaffiliated and the rest belong to small parties, the largest being the 372 in the Independence Party, making up 6 percent of registered voters. New Scotland has 201 enrolled Conservatives, which is three percent of the registered voters.

Former Chairman Timothy Stanton will remain on the Republican Party committee, he told The Enterprise.

“I was the chairman because there was no one else,” he said. “It really takes a person who has more time than I do. There was no unrest.”

In the committee, Fish said, the party decided that, “maybe Mr. Tim Stanton deserved a break. He runs a farm, a farmstand, and has young kids.”

Stanton has six children, from ages 15 to 27, Stanton said. He ran for Albany County Legislature in November, but lost to incumbent L. Michael Mackey.

Fish was not on the committee when Stanton stepped up to be chairman, Stanton said.

“He’s very capable and is going to do a good job,” he said. “I was glad to hand it over to him. I’ve found an excellent replacement.”

Fish is semi-retired from the New York State Division of the Budget where he worked as a senior analyst, and from the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation where he served as vice-president.

He worked with the state’s defaulted student loans, and has experience with preparing budgets, he said.

Fish and the Republican Party are calling for the town board to appoint Republican Craig A. Shufelt to fill Independent Douglas LaGrange’s unfilled council seat when LaGrange becomes supervisor in January. (See Letters to the Editor.)

Shufelt and his opponent, Democrat Adam Greenberg, each garnered over 1,100 votes; Greenberg emerged victorious by a margin of about 50 votes, keeping the town board seated by Democrats and one Independent.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could work together a little bit?” Fish said of an appointment for Shufelt. “That would be a very positive gesture for the Democratic Party to make.”