Lew Schneider, former chairman of the city democratic committee, will introduce Mayor Scott Johnson at the State of the City Address this Sunday.

Schneider said Tuesday evening that Johnson had asked him to handle the introduction, and that he planned to talk about bipartisanship in his remarks. He added that Johnson would speak on a similar theme. To Schenider's memory, this is the first time that a member of the opposite party will introduce a Mayor for this annual speech.

Schneider was associated with the so-called United Democrats, a group which lost a majority of seats on the city committee in the September primary, to the Democrats for Change. Allan Turkheimer, a member of the Democrats for Change, became city chairman shortly after the September primary.

Turkheimer could not be reached for comment on Tuesday evening, but it is not much of a stretch to imagine that in an election year, Johnson sees something to be gained from an introduction by a prominent Democrat, a move that will likely insite some discontent within the already-volitile party, and perhaps even lead to a Democratic primary battle ahead of the city elections in November. A similar scenario played out in 2007, culminating with Johnon's defeat of incumbant Valerie Keehn. Incidentally, although she currently holds not formal title, Keehn is associated with the Democrats for Change.

Stay tuned...