Election Day Primer

SARATOGA SPRINGS —All five City Council seats – one mayor and four commissioners - as well as both city Supervision positions are up for vote to new, two-year terms that will take effect in January. 

City Council

Three of the five council positions are uncontested, and each of the currently sitting commissioners - Jason Golub (Public Safety), Dillon Moran (Accounts), and Minita Sanghvi (Finance) - are expected to return. All three are Democrats. 

The contested seats are for city Mayor, and for Commissioner of Public Safety.

Incumbent Mayor Ron Kim and incumbent Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino are both seeking re-election. Each is facing a contested three-person race. Both incumbents are Democrats, but unlike the political polarization that prevails in many elections across the U.S., party lines and political divisions in the Spa City are somewhat blurred.

Mayor

Ron Kim – running on the Democratic line, is facing a challenge for the mayoral seat from Republican candidate John Safford, and One Saratoga independent party candidate Chris Mathiesen. Mathiesen previously sat the council table as city Public Safety Commissioner, from 2012 to 2017. 

Public Safety Commissioner

Jim Montagnino – running on the Democratic line, faces a challenge for Public Safety Commissioner from Timothy Coll – who is running on the Republican, and One Saratoga line, and Kristen Dart – who is running on the independent Community First line. 

A Parting of Party Lines

In the city of Saratoga Springs, there are just over 20,000 voters actively registered. 

Registered Democrats account for approximately 40% of voters, registered Republicans about 28%, and Blanks – that is, those registered to vote but purposely unaffiliated with any party, count for about 26.5%. The remaining 5.5% balance of voters are comprised of those registered with either the Conservative Party, Working Families Party, or a variety of independent lines. Overall, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in 21 of 25 city voting districts, according to the state Board of Elections’ latest available enrollment figures. 

Despite that sitting Public Safety Commissioner Montagnino is a Democrat, city Mayor Ron Kim and three other incumbent Democrat council members have expressed their backing of independent Kristen Dart for the seat. 

Tim Coll, who is a registered Democrat, has been endorsed by the city Republican committee and is running on the Republican line as a candidate of choice for Public Safety Commissioner. 

And this week, on a rain-soaked Monday afternoon in front of City Hall, Democrat ballot candidate Montagnino held a press conference to announce he would be crossing party lines to endorse Republican Party candidate John Safford for Mayor in the election. When asked about his support for Safford, Montagnino denied that his endorsement was of any retaliatory nature against Mayor Kim’s endorsing of Kirsten Dart, instead citing “discord and chaos” at recent City Council meetings as a motivator. 

“This IS an unusual endorsement,” Safford said, acknowledging the crossing of party lines during Monday’s 20-minute presser, “but I’m grateful for it.”

This Year’s Contested City Seats - The Last Time Around 

In 2021, nearly 9,000 city votes were counted in the mayoral race. Democrat Ron Kim was elected after securing 4,319 votes to the 3,943 cast for Republican candidate Heidi West and 632 voted for other party challengers. 

Democrat Jim Montagnino was elected Public Safety Commissioner after besting Republican candidate Tracey LaBelle 4,783 to 3,859, with an additional 95 votes cast for a third-party challenger.

In the race for the two Supervisor seats, Democrat Tara Gaston (4,460) and Republican Matthew Veitch (4,334 votes) were elected. Democrat Shaun Wiggins received 3,828 votes, and Republican John Safford – this year’s mayoral challenger – received 3,775 votes.

This year in Saratoga Springs, voters have a choice of three candidates from which to select two supervisors to represent the city at the county level. 

They are: Gordon Boyd (D, WF); Michele Madigan (D, One Saratoga), and incumbent Supervisor Matthew Veitch (R, One Saratoga). Madigan previously served five two-year terms as city Finance Commissioner, from 2012-2021; Veitch, who is seeking re-election, has served as supervisor since 2008. 

For more information about county supervisor races, please see last week’s edition of Saratoga TODAY, which may be viewed at: https://saratogatodaynewspaper.com/home/item/20476-election-primer-saratoga-county-five-contested-supervisor-races-early-voting-begins-oct-28. 

Party Registration Breakdown

Countywide, active registered voter numbers have grown from 169,756 in November 2021 to 174,991 actively registered in 2023 – an increase of 5,235.

Specific to active voter party affiliation across Saratoga County: Conservative Party registration is up 281 compared to year 2021, Republican Party registration is up 934, and Democratic Party registration is up 1,456. The largest increase - up 3,203 – are those registered to vote but unaffiliated with any party, or “blank.” Working Families Party and other/ independent parties each have less active registered voters this time around.       

Statewide Ballot Proposals

Proposal One: Removal Of Small City School Districts From Special Constitutional Debt Limitation. The proposed amendment to Article 8, section 4 of the Constitution seeks to remove the special constitutional debt limitation now placed on small city school districts, so they will be treated the same as all other school districts.

Proposal Two: Extending Sewage Project Debt Exclusion From Debt Limit. The proposed amendment to Article 8, section 5 of the Constitution seeks to extends for 10 years the authority of counties, cities, towns, and villages to remove from their constitutional debt limits debt for the construction of sewage facilities.

For full text of the two ballot proposals, go to the state BOE website at: https://www.elections.ny.gov/2023BallotProposals.html.