The Saratoga County Republican Party made a strategic mistake in endorsing a candidate for sheriff.
The party has experienced a decline in membership and activity over the past decade or so. Despite a 2-to-1 party enrollment advantage for Republicans, Democrat Barack Obama won Saratoga County in 2008 and 2012. Two other Democrats, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Paul Tonko, won the county in 2012 as well.
Candidates feel they can't win anymore by just being on the Republican line; they often seek a third party line such as Conservative or Independence in order to garner enough votes to win.
Why is this? Are people too busy to pay attention to and vote in elections? Do they believe the party has drifted away from their core values and beliefs? Have certain issues, policy positions or elected officials driven people away?
The county Republican Party could have used this primary to reach out to voters to find out what is on their minds. By staying neutral, we could have focused our energy on voter outreach and we would have been stronger after the primary because of it. Sadly, under the leadership of John Herrick, the county committee insisted on endorsing Mike Zurlo and has spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to defeat Jeff Gildersleeve, a well-qualified Republican challenger. The situation has become tense and destructive, and no matter who wins on Sept. 10, the party will be weaker if it doesn't learn to align itself with the will of the people, not the party leadership. There are 62,000 registered Republicans in Saratoga County and their voices must be heard.
What are we doing to listen?
The writer is a Republican committeewoman from Ballston Spa.
