Alliance Party candidate Roger Hull has named a Glenville resident with experience in running state Assembly campaigns as his campaign manager.
Brian Young, 30, will also assist in the day-to-day operations of the Alliance Party, which Hull is forming.
Hull is running for mayor of Schenectady. He also has the Republican Party endorsement. Gary McCarthy, a Democrat, is also running for the office, which became vacant earlier this year when Brian Stratton resigned to become head of the state Canal Corp. McCarthy is serving as acting mayor and as president of the City Council. Hull is a former Union College president.
Young served as a regional coordinator for the Office of Communication Services in the state Assembly since 2006. His last day was May 13. He also served as a senior coordinator for the Democrat Assembly Campaign Committee and oversaw six campaigns between 2006 and 2010, four of them victorious. Young said he joined Hull’s campaign after seeing stories about him forming the Alliance Party. “It sparked my interest. It is a new dynamic from what we see in politics,” he said.
A Democrat, Young said he can reconcile his allegiance to the Alliance Party because it is bringing “the best minds together from both sides of the aisle and it is something we can rally behind.” He said the party will touch a chord in people because “they want leaders to step up and turn ideas into reality.”
Should Hull win the race, Young said he does not see himself taking a role in his administration. “No, I am not a city resident and Roger is enforcing the residence-requirement issue,” he said.
Young said he plans to run an active campaign. “It will take a lot of legwork and getting Roger out and meeting voters. The biggest strategy for us is the ground operation. We also will use door-to-door and mail,” he said. “Once voters meet Roger and hear his ideas, we are confident they will support him.”
McCarthy said he will announce his campaign manager at a news event shortly, adding that his manager will likely serve as a volunteer. He added that he does not need a paid campaign manager because “I do not need on-the-job training for running campaigns or on-the-job training to be mayor. I can do the job. [Hull] needs the support network. He has to be trained and guided in it. I will give you a more efficient, cheaper government than anyone else in this race.”
Young will be paid by Hull’s campaign. Young said he is still working on the contract and could not reveal his salary.
McCarthy said he plans to have a “well-financed, well-managed campaign.”
Categories: Schenectady County
