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The Saratogian Newsroom blog, complete with thoughts and commentary from our newsroom staff and regular posts on happenings around town.

Friday, June 1

Not letting people vote is generally not a popular decision.

And cue the political fallout:

Wednesday night, John "Jasper" Nolan told me there would be no Saratoga County GOP Committee endorsement because they did not want people outside the 43rd Senate District voting.

Instead, the previous Friday, he declared Roy McDonald the winner based on 59 percent of the Saratoga County GOP Committee members WITHIN THE 43RD SENATE DISTRICT voting for Sen. McDonald.

Nolan said it made more sense than having the entire committee -- half of which (Clifton Park, Ballston, Charlton, Milton, Galway, Providence, Edinburg, Corinth, Hadley and Day) will not eventually be included in the 43rd district -- vote on the endorsement.

He said those on "the other side" want the whole committee to vote on who the Saratoga GOP Committee endorses, something he called "kind of crazy."

By "other side" I took him to mean supporters of Kathy Marchione, the other Republican candidate running for the 43rd District, not Democrats.

Thursday, Chairman of the Wilton GOP Committee Scott Kingsly said he is "deeply troubled by and disappointed in the leadership of Chairman Nolan by his recent decision not to call a meeting of the Saratoga County Republican Committee."

Perhaps most intriguing about this statement is the fact that Kingsley says he personally supports McDonald, meaning the lack of a vote is not just alienating those on "the other side" but also those who were on Nolan's.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.

Later in the day, the Marchione camp shot off a press release welcoming Nolan's withdrawal of "fraudulent McDonald Endorsement."


I forwarded that release to McDonald's camp and asked for a reply, but haven't heard back yet.

“After the events of the past week, I think it’s more apparent than ever that we need to have a fair and open meeting to decide who our party will support for State Senate,”
Marchione said in the release. She is now calling for "a fair and open meeting of the Saratoga County Republican Committee."

She then said McDonald should want to join her in the process, after "previously embrac(ing) the fraudulent endorsement and the backroom politics behind it.
"This is Saratoga County, not Albany. That doesn't sell here," she said.

Here's the release from Kingsley.


(Wilton, NY, May 31, 2012). Today, Scott Kingsley, chair of the Republican Committee in the town of Wilton, responds to media reports that Jasper Nolan is refusing to call a meeting of the Saratoga County Republican Committee to endorse a candidate in the 43rd State Senate race.
“I am deeply troubled by and disappointed in the leadership of Chairman Nolan by his recent decision not to call a meeting of the Saratoga County Republican Committee.
As a personal supporter of Senator McDonald, I am offended that I will not be able to represent my election district and formally verbalize that support in terms of a vote. As the chairman of the entire Wilton delegation, I have a duty to protect against the disenfranchisement of the majority of my colleagues that support Kathy Marchione.
While there is a disagreement between the two parties as per process of such a meeting, because the written rules are silent, standard Robert’s rules of Order suggests that the entire body vote on the rules.
It is unfortunate that democracy within the Saratoga County Republican Committee takes it on the chin before Chairman Nolan loses a vote. Because of the chairman’s actions, bringing the party together after the primary will even be harder. I am afraid that this primary may become more about party leadership than any particular issue (sic).”

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow.... dirty politics.

June 1, 2012 at 1:36 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Saratoga County Republican Party Leadership has been at question for a number of years but, yet, Jasper Nolan is still in charge. Yawn, sigh. It is time for a change. As a Saratoga County Republican, I will vote for Kathy Marchione as I am tired of the same old, same old in Saratoga County, Town and Village politics. If she wins, she will need to prove that she has the ability to institute change. I am confidant that she will. It is time for a different view when it comes to politics in Saratoga County and it should no longer be a "good old boy's club". Spanky and the little rascals have been reruns for longer than I have been alive and yet we have Jasper Nolan still at the helm of the Saratoga Republican Committee. Most of the Saratoga Republicans that claim to be making decisions on behalf of those of us who are Republicans in Saratoga County - please stop and please step aside.

June 2, 2012 at 6:54 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Either way this is going to divide the Republican Party. The smart thing to do would have been allowing Roy to run for his probable last term and allow Kathy to run in two years for Roy's seat. This is a terrible error in judgement on the Parties part. New leadership is needed at the County level. Jasper has done a great job but as recent devopments continue to occur with problems at the County level it is time to step down and allow new leadership to take control.The County has become outdated and needs a County Executive/County Comptroller elected form of government.

June 2, 2012 at 7:49 AM 
Blogger Trapped in History said...

why would people, who won't be voting in this district come election time, want to influence who the candidate is?

June 2, 2012 at 10:02 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

and she is one to talk about back door politics, remember, when she gto what she wanted she was good with it.

June 2, 2012 at 11:19 AM 
Blogger Unknown said...

There were also two comments calling on Chairman Nolan to resign, but they were more personal than I will allow, so let's just leave it at two anonymous posters want him to step down.

June 2, 2012 at 11:49 AM 

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