BETTER THAN HEARSAY - Two Ends, One Beginning

CATSKILL - A flurry of behind-the-scenes political movements have both lessened and heightened the suspense as Greene County Republicans gather to choose a candidate for the 102nd Assembly District seat.

Marc Molinaro, currently the head of the Federal Transit Administration, is apparently ready to emerge as the chosen one when the GOP holds its nominating convention, February 21, in Catskill.

Rumors have been swirling around Molinaro’s entry the past two weeks including a February 12 story in the “Mountain Eagle,” lacking only an official confirmation from Molinaro or local Republicans.

There is still no official word but two earlier announced hopefuls, Windham town supervisor Thomas Hoyt and Richard Amedure, a seasoned veteran of two State Senate races, have ended their campaigns.

National news outlets picked up the story, on February 13, and Molinaro, in a February 17 “Porcupine Soup” report, is quoted on his social media post: “after a record-breaking year working with [President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy], my last day with the administration will be Friday, February 20.

“I’m coming home to be closer to my family and get back into the fight. New York is being run into the ground. Stay tuned,” Molinaro wrote.

The timing of his final day in Washington D.C. perfectly aligns with the GOP convention, and the need for Molinaro to not overlap his federal appointment with any political aspirations.

Molinaro’s expected coronation on Saturday has sent shock waves through the local GOP committee membership, with leadership not publicly acknowledging what was being openly discussed and debated.

It has also led to Hoyt and Amedure bowing out, foregoing any attempt at a primary this summer, easing the way for the GOP to try and maintain control of the 102nd seat it has held since 1973.

“I will endorse Marc one-hundred percent,” Hoyt said in a phone interview. “The opportunity was there and you never know when or if it will come along again so I tested the waters.

“I said from the beginning I would not go to a primary, that I would accept the will of the Party. I have unfinished business in Windham with union negotiations starting and a [little league] ballfield to build,” Hoyt said.

Amedure declined comment but he has, “officially withdrawn his name from consideration for the Assembly,” GOP chairman Brent Bogardus said.

If it is true that Molinaro wants the job - with nobody from the Grand Old Party yet confirming his candidacy at press time - he would be trying to replace Chris Tague.

Tague, this past November, announced he was leaving the Assembly post he won in 2018 to seek a seat in the 51st State Senate District.

Hoyt, the vice-chairman of the county GOP, and Amedure, a Conservative and resident of the town of Rensselaerville, threw their hats into the ring shortly thereafter, setting the stage for a potentially tight battle.

Amedure had reportedly already received unofficial support from the Conservative Party with Hoyt well known in Greene, Schoharie and Delaware counties, the main bases of the 102nd.

Meanwhile, three Democrats have stepped forward to end the GOP streak; Delhi village councilwoman Janet Tweed, village of Catskill trustee Thomas Boomhower and Cairo town Democratic chairwoman Mary Finneran.

Greene County Democratic Party co-chairman Marc Czermerys says he expects the 3-way contest in his Party to go to a primary, this summer.

“As a county committee, we will allow all three candidates to speak to us at a panel presentation in mid-to-late March,” Czermerys says, a gathering slated to take place at the Cairo Public Library.

“We will then back whoever wins the primary unless the candidates, on their own, decide something else,” Czermerys said.

“A major part of the message we want to deliver to them, as a committee, is that we work together to win the seat,” Czermerys said.

Tweed has been down this road before, winning a primary and overseeing a campaign while challenging Tague in 2024, falling short, running on the Democratic and Working Families tickets.

Boomhower, responding to reports of Molinaro’s entrance, said, “the 102nd Assembly District deserves a representative who is rooted in this community and focused on its future, not someone looking for a political landing spot after being rejected by these very voters.”

Finneran says she is, “an environmental and social justice advocate,” believing a Democrat is in a better position to pass legislation than a Republican in the Democratic-dominated State government, and that she is the right Democrat for that job.

While the Democrats have been bridesmaids in the 102nd Assembly since 1973, “in today’s political climate anything is possible,” Czermerys says.

“I believe if we are true to our causes, we have a chance of winning. There won’t be the electoral bump of an incumbent, though it will still be on us to listen to what people are looking for, and delivering,” Czermerys says.

Molinaro is no stranger to elected office. He served in the 103rd Assembly District five years and was U.S. representative to the 19th Congressional District two years, losing reelection to Democrat Josh Riley.

He has been in public office since the age of 18 when he was elected to the Village of Tivoli Board of Trustees. A year later, Tivoli voters elected him the youngest mayor in the country at the time.

Republicans will also be picking candidates for county offices including the district attorney where Joseph Stanzione is not seeking re-election.