When Bill Owens announced he was not going to run for reelection for the 21st Congressional District, he didn't consult anyone about it in the party.

"Just my family," he said Wednesday on a stop in Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga County Democratic Chairman Todd Kerner said he and the other chairs in the district he has spoken to found out the day that Owens announced his retirement from Congress publicly.

"I think there is was a great deal of disappointment that it was so last minute," Kerner said. "Normally an incumbent will be respectful of the process and the party that supported them and will give (the party) more time."

Kerner said he believes they found an "exceptional candidate" in a short time with documentary filmmaker Aaron Woolf, though he thinks Woolf was "behind the 8-ball" in terms of building a campaign machine for his run.

There was a perception in the campaign (perhaps helped by some prodding by the other side) that Woolf got off to a slow start. But then he wasn't endorsed until February 12 — four weeks after Owens announced he wouldn't seek reelection.

"I think by November everyone will know about him and will be impressed," Kerner said.

In terms of Woolf being a political unknown Owens said "That's what they said about me 4-1/2 years ago. I think there is another pleasant surprise (in Woolf)."

As I put in a previous post, the demographics of the district are somewhat lopsided in favor of the conservative candidates, though Kerner said he doesn't believe that is as significant in the 21st District as it is elsewhere.

"I think the voters in the 21st are unique. They are very independent. They don't look at the labels, they look at the person," he said.

Still, it certainly seemed to make a difference before Owens took office. 

Owens said it is too early to decide whether he will make any endorsements for the race.

"There are a lot of people in it," Owens said, and debates in possible three of the parties — Republicans, Democrats and Green Party. "We'll have to see how it shakes out."

"I hope we have some good debate," he said. Owens said he hopes whoever wins the district pays attention to the electorate as a whole, not just their side of the aisle.

"The person needs to be willing to vote with the other side on some things," he said. "I talked about being a moderate and I think my voting record reflects that is what I was."

As for his life after Congress, Owens said he doesn't know what is in store yet.

"I have not reached a conclusion about what I want to do and what I'm going to be wanted to do," he said with a laugh.

I've been looking a lot at the history of the 21st Congressional District and its unusual status as a battleground district.

Seems that may have been a short-lived status for the district, based on enrollment data and the particulars of previous elections.

I produced some graphs, one of which will appear in the article about the district's evolution and this one, which wasn't too remarkable so we left it out.

UNTIL NOW!

It shows the numbers of voters enlisted in each party as of November every year since 1995 (as far back as the state Board of Election's website kept it for).

The bars fluctuate but the percentage of each party's share of the total enrolled electorate really don't. Dems stay at around 29 percent and the Republicans went down from 44 percent to 42 percent over that period. 

Green party is on the graph, if you couldn't see it. 

On the fundraising side of the race, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says Aaron Woolf is among their "Emerging Races" in their Red-to-Blue Program, designed to raise money nationally for congressional races in tough districts for them. 

As it says of the Red-to-Blue candidates: "These candidates have earned a spot on Red to Blue by surpassing aggressive fundraising, organization and infrastructure goals."

On the website, the DCCC allows you to contribute to Red-to-Blue races at the click of a button and split it among its 16 Red-to-Blue candidates or contribute to just one of them.

It also gives you the same option for 11 out of 12 of its "Emerging Races" candidates. 

The one left out? Aaron Woolf. 

Perhaps an oversight?

I've got an e-mail out to the DCCC to ask about it. I attached the screen shot. I'll update if/when I hear back. 

UPDATE**

Well I hear it was just a technical glitch and should get cleared up... but as of Tuesday evening it's still cutting him out of the contribution page.