Trey Smith, the special prosecutor, has maintained anyone who benefitted from the alleged fraud are the ones he is targeting. Winning a seat on the city Council is a benefit, last I knew.


So, voter fraud could be coming to an end … how many times have I written that same sentence I have no idea but I’m pretty sure it’s too many. But this time it really could. Well, if not to an end, then at least we’ve reached the halfway The next round of subpoenas went out in the ongoing, never-ending voter fraud scandal to witnesses called on to testify in front of the second Grand Jury.



SMITH



At least three went out, and while I have a pretty good idea of who they went out too, I have no confirmation and therefore won’t print the names but safe to say former City Clerk Bill McInerney will be one, if he hasn't already. Also safe to say Council President Clement Campana and Councilman John Brown have something to worry about.

The point in that we still have two guys – Councilman Michael LoPorto and Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough – indicted on 116 felonies – and who knows what comes out of this Grand Jury.

You gotta believe there will be indictments. Whether there will be any pleas is anyone’s guess. If I had to guess, I’d say there will be. Campana was running for mayor but bailed in part because of voter fraud and Brown, who had ambitions for a mayoral run, isn’t even running for council again so I’m guessing they just want to get on with their lives.

Meanwhile, LoPorto and McDonough are showing no signs of backing down and all indications are they are going to trial. At least that’s the impression I got from LoPorto and McDonough’s attorney, Brian Premo. That could change but as of right now, it’s not.

I’ve said all along, Smith’s Plan A was to get everyone to plead to something. That didn’t work. Now it’s on to Plan B, which is to indict more people. What other choice does he have? And I have no idea what judge George Pulver is doing - The LoPorto and McDonough indictments came down in January, the alleged infractions happened over two years ago and yet we don’t have a trial date.

Let’s get on with it already. I don’t know how many times I’ve written that sentence either.

SWEENEY

The Republican and Conservative Party judicial delegates picked Rensselaer County Family Court Judge Katherine “KiKi” Cholakis and Albany attorney Guy Roemer as their candidates for Supreme Court judges for the Third District yesterday. And this is after the two presumed candidates – Roemer and Columbia County Court Judge Jonathan Nichols – have been actively campaigning for months.

I’m hearing former U.S Rep. John Sweeney, who was working for Cholakis, didn’t even start the backroom maneuvering until late last week yet managed to get Albany and Ulster counties to back her over Nichols. In Albany County, it was probably thanks to his buddy Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and Rensselaer County, of course, went with one of their own. I’m not sure how he got Ulster County on board, but fact of the matter is he did.

Once that happened, why wouldn’t Nichols get thrown under the bus? Roemer is an Albany County guy and Cholakis is a Rensselaer County gal. Not a lot of people care about Columbia County in the seven-county, Third Judicial District where delegates from each have a weighted vote. The fact Nichols is a well-respected judge, and probably has as much or more relevant experience than anyone in the race doesn’t really matter much in the way judges are picked.

One guy who can’t be happy is John Faso, the former Assembly minority leader and one time gubernatorial candidate from Columbia County. Nichols was his guy.

I’m not saying I agree with how operatives cut backroom deals to pick judicial candidates but it worked out slightly better than the past-practice of swapping cross-endorsements between the two major parties. At least now we’ll have an election in November, and the people will get to choose two between Cholakis and Roemer and the presumed Democratic candidates: Ray Elliott, a longtime North Greenbush judge, and Albany County Judge Tom Breslin.

I don’t expect anything to change with the Democratic candidates when their convention is held Friday, and delegates from the Working Families Party will meet Monday to endorse Elliott and Breslin - who already have the Independence Party nod.

So, if everything stays the same, Roemer and Cholakis will have the R and C lines and Elliott and Breslin will have the D, I and WFP lines. In other words, it’s a battle for the robes.



SWEENEY



Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the annual - I’m not sure what to call it, but one person described it as being similar to an animal gnawing off its leg - process of picking candidates for the Third Judicial District is that former Rep. John Sweeney is back in the game.

For weeks, if not months, Republicans in the seven-county district seemed settled on Guy Roemer, an Albany County attorney, and Columbia County Judge Jonathan Nichols for the two open seats. However, nothing is set in stone until delegates meet at the nominating convention, which the GOP will hold tomorrow (Thursday.)

Every indication, as of 7 p.m., is that Rensselaer County Family Court Judge Katherine “KiKi” Cholakis will get the Republican nod and Nichols gets kicked to the curb. I couldn’t get anyone to comment on the record, but I’m told one of the guys brokering the deal behind the scenes was none other than Sweeney.

Once the powers that be decided on Cholakis, either Roemer or Nichols had to go and since Albany County carries the most weighted vote they stuck with their own. Ulster and Rensselaer counties signed on and it was all over for Nichols, as of 7 p.m. Thursday anyway.

The way it works is the party nominates delegates to send to the judicial convention and they in turn nominate who the bosses want. For years, rather than run an expensive race that spans several counties to only yield two patronage jobs, the parties would cross endorse each other’s candidates on a rotating basis. That fell apart in 2008 when the Democrats, behind Rensselaer County Chairman Tom Wade, refused to endorse incumbent Judge Anthony Carpinello and Rensselaer County Judge Pat McGrath went onto defeat Carpinello in the general election.

The gnawing at the limbs thing happens annually, but Sweeney’ presence is what stands out this year. He was a rising star in the national GOP who once had the president’s ear until he lost his seat to now Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006 because of what were self-inflicted wounds. The frat photos stand out, but the State Police domestic violence report probably did him in.

After a 17-day stint in jail for an April 5, 2009 DWI last year, Sweeney has said he has been proudly sober since April 6, 2009.

The fact he wants to get back in the political game isn’t really a surprise. The former state GOP executive director’s tactical prowess at the behind the scenes stuff is near legendary. Also, it’s not surprising he would get into this race. He and Cholakis were partners in a Troy law firm back in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the Independence Party endorsed the two Democrats, long time North Greenbush Judge Ray Elliott and Albany County Court Judge Tom Breslin.

The GOP meets tomorrow (Thursday) at 1 p.m. and the Conservatives will meet at 6 p.m. to pick their candidates. While there was some grumblings the Conservatives may endorse Elliott or even Nichols in retaliation for the Cholakis nomination, the last word I heard was they were going with Roemer and Cholakis too.

But there is a ton of time between now and 1 p.m. so who knows what will happen. I’m pretty sure cell phone batteries are dying at a pretty good clip.



ROSAMILIA



MANTELLO

 
According to our latest poll, thanks to the guys at Gramercy Communication, we got ourselves a mayor’s race. Democrat Lou Rosamilia is leading Republican Carmella Mantello 37 percent to 35.1. That’s within the 2.8 percent margin of error.

That means it’s anybody’s ball game.

Rosamilia has a huge enrollment advantage and it seems to me like Democrats are starting to realize who he is and they like him. As an aside, I’ve heard nothing but good things about the guy from both sides of the aisle. Mantello is way ahead in getting an organization going and raising money – a recent fundraiser netted her more than $20,000 and I’ve heard as much as $40,000. It’s probably somewhere between the two, but it’s a good chuck of change none-the-less and Troy has had a Republican mayor for the last eight years so enrollment only goes so far.

If you remember, Mantello was up 20 in our first poll while she was running against Council President Clement Campana. Campana might have better name recognition than Rosmailia but it was for all the wrong reasons – namely voter fraud and questions about how his father got into a Troy Housing Authority apartment while his own family said he didn’t meet the income threshold.

Once Campana stepped aside and Rosamilia, who doesn’t come with any baggage, stepped in our second poll in August had Mantello up 7 points. Now, it’s a statistical dead heat.

Key to both camps is, obviously, the 23 percent with no party affiliation and that’s where Rosamilia has an edge, 37.8 to 31 percent, over Mantello. More than 26 percent of those voters are undecided too, which is a huge number.

Also, thanks to the poll, we now know why Mantello is challenging the candidacy of Jack Cox Jr. According to the poll, if the election were held today, he would get 4 percent of the vote. Four years ago Elda Abate got about 150 votes and that equates to about 1 percent of the expected turnout of 10,000 or so. The margin of error of this poll was 2.8 percent, which is, since I have a knack for the painfully obvious, is less than 4 percent.

We got ourselves a horserace.

Blogger had a hiccup and a bunch of posts that were sent could not be seen on the blog for some reason. I’ve cut and pasted them below, or at least the one’s that didn’t denigrate someone’s wife or other BS. I did post the one’s denigrating me, however. I don’t care what you guys say about me but try to keep it clean when it comes to people who really don’t have a stake in the matter. Ohh, and yes, I too liked the chicken marsala recipe. Thank you.

Jim Franco
Here are the posts fit to publish:

- Mr franco the only problem your going to have if you make people sign on with real identity is the sheriffs boys will stop blogging and then only a few people left. This is to much fun . On a serious note will someone please investigate the shooting in Poestenkill . GORDON 2012

- Jim if you make everyone register, this blog will get pretty quiet! lol We all know too many people run their mouths ONLY because it's anonymous. To the one posting the recipe's, Ty, I never made chicken marsala! lol Have a great day!

- A plea to all of my supporters:
After much consideration, I feel the need to respond to the comments in this blog. This election is very important to the people of Rensselaer County. I do not support nor do I condone personal attacks made on this blog. This race is about issues that affect our communities. It is about public safety. It is about our committment to every single resident in Rensselaer County. Please EVERYONE refrain from personal attacks. They serve no purpose and are hurtful to everyone involved amd more importantly, those that are not. I continue to urge my supporters to engage in thoughtful, insightful and engaging comments. We must however, remember that comments directed at individuals that do not involve any of the real issues in this race are counterproductive. Thank You, Gary K. Gordon

- Gary Gordon squeaked out the Conservative Party primary by six votes over incumbent Sheriff Jack Mahar after officials at the Board of Elections counted the 42 absentee ballots submitted for last Tuesday’s primary
WOW! ALL THAT HARD WORK. SLANDER, THEFT AND ONLY SIX VOES!
MAHAR FOR SHERIFF!!

- I am looking in from the outside and you people are a bunch of nitwits!

- haha Jim what did you honestly expect when you posted a blog called "Sheriff's race is gettin nasty"
Well, then again, you might as well do that seeing there probably won't be a troy record come 2013, middle school newsletters have more pages and writing

- after reading these postings i cant believe all of you freaking nitwits in the sheriffs dept.

- MAHAR FOR SHERIFF 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard a story today from before my time about Sheriff Warren McGreevey who served back in the early 90s and it reminds me of what’s going on today.

McGreevey had a pretty good two-term run but lost the Conservative Party line and lost the election to Republican Dan Keating. Sheriff Jack Mahar is poised to also lose the Conservative Party primary to challenger Gary Gordon, an enrolled Conservative running with the Democrats.

Unlike Mahar, though, McGreevey did have one “scandal” the GOP at the time successfully exploited. But the fact of the matter is the guy who embezzled a bunch of money was hired under Sheriff Gene Eaton, a Republican, and not McGreevey. The GOP spun it the other way and Keating was elected sheriff.

Mahar has flown under the radar but when he does stick his head up, there is no scandal attached to it.

That said, McGreevey lost the Conservative Party line during his bid for a third term and Dan Keating got some 3,500 votes on that line alone. Some say that means it was a 7,000-vote shift because it was 3,500 votes McGreevey didn’t get and Keating did but that’s far from exact because you have no idea who votes on what lines for whatever candidate for whatever reason.

Anyway, I’ve always found Mahar was a straight shooter both when he was a Troy cop and after he was elected Sheriff nearly eight years ago. The problem I have with him is I can’t talk to him, and reporters have a tough time getting anyone from the Sheriff’s Department to talk to too. And this is after he put a spokeswoman on the public payroll.

The fact the union is against him – Mark Piche and Kevin Rogers are the driving force judging from the comments on this blog and from what I’ve heard independently – really doesn’t mean much to me. Unions tend to not like their bosses.

Gordon has been a straight shooter too, as a cop and as an investigator for the DA’s office. He tells you what he can and doesn’t tell you what he can’t. That’s all someone in my shoes can expect.

Honestly, I don’t care too much who is sheriff. You make sure nobody escapes from jail, nobody is aabused while they are there and patrol the vast miles of empty roads that is Rensselaer County with the scant resources you have and that’s it. Mahar has done a decent job, as far as I know, and I’m pretty sure Gordon would do a decent job as well.

But, judging from the posts on this blog there are people who care a whole lot more than I do so it’s going to be a wild, nasty ride from now until November. And it's going to be close. Might not even be decided on Election Day.

Gary Gordon leads incumbent Sheriff Jack Mahar 546-522 with 42 absentee ballots yet to be counted in the Conservative Party primary. That’s a pretty good showing for Gordon given Mahar is an eight-year Republican incumbent in what is known as a Republican county.


This one will come down to the lawyers and maybe a judge too. But, Gordon needs this line if he has a shot at winning.

In District 4, incumbent At-Large Councilman Michael LoPorto lost the Democratic primary to Robert Doherty. Doherty is a newcomer but he had some people working for him who have been around for a while, namely Councilman Bill Dunne I was right though. I won a lunch on that race from a pretty smart guy.

It might have had something to do with this obviously doctored flyer. He wasn’t even endorsed by the Democrats in his own city – provided you believe he lives in Troy and not Brunswick – let alone party leaders state and even country wide. Troy voters ain’t stupid. Or it might be the fact he stands indicted on scores of felonies in the ongoing Working Families Party voter fraud scandal.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/64962305/Flyer-2
http://www.scribd.com/doc/64962258/Flyer-1

He’s still on the ballot on the WFP line, however. Gotta to love it.

I thought District 1 was going to be a decent race and it still might, but not if the I and C primaries are any indication. Incumbent Kevin McGrath, an enrolled Conservative who runs with the Democrats, crushed challenger Frank LaPosta in the C primary 78-17 and is ahead of him in the I primary 13-11 - in a write in.

Despite the fact McGrath was implicated in the ongoing voter fraud scandal and testified for the prosecution, if he hangs on to all three lines he’ll be tough to beat.

Over in District 5, it looks like incumbent Ken Zalewski won the write in campaign against Seamus Donnelly for the I line but the C line is too close to call with Zalewski just a vote behind, 53-52, in that write in campaign. Absentees have yet to be determined.

Write in campaigns ain’t easy. While the numbers might be small, it’s like corralling cats, enrolling them in a party, taking them to a polling place and showing them how to sign “Felix” in the appropriate spots..

In District 6, challenger Dan Mahoney, a Republican, fended off a write in challenge by incumbent Democrat Gary Galuski’s attempt to get the I and C line. At least that’s how it stands now. I’m not sure how many absentees are out there but they could change how it stands now given only 30 people voted in the I primary and 78 cast a ballot in the C primary.

I won’t go into the absentee thing with the Democrats. Today was Primary Day, second only to Election Day for people, junkies, like you and me and the democratic process worked – damn it. What that all means is open for debate.

Good for him. I don’t see him being much of a factor in the grand scheme of things but he wants to run, put in a good faith effort getting the signatures and Judge Robert Jacon made the right decision in tossing an objection to those signatures by Republican candidate Carmella Mantello.


Mantello’s campaign has been ticking along with not so much as a little hitch but to try to bounce someone who wants to run for mayor - and put in the time and effort to do so by collecting, or writing, more than 900 signatures – was a mistake.

Let the guy run. It’s the democratic way.

Jacon made the right decision by letting Cox stay in the race.