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Countdown to Nov. 5 : The Albany Six

The Hispanic Coalition/LULAC

Less than three weeks from election day, the candidates vying to replace 20-year Albany mayor Jerry Jennings met Monday evening at the main branch of the Albany Public Library. It marked the first time since WAMC's and the New York League of Conservation Voters’ well-received forum at the Linda back in July that every candidate had a place at a debate.  Nathan LeBron, Chairman of the Hispanic Coalition, moderated the Monday night colloquium.

The Hispanic Coalition of New York and LULAC, the League of Latin American Citizens, hosted the six candidates vying for mayor. The theme: Latino issues are Albany's issues.

The candidates:

  • Independent Democrat Marlon Anderson, running as a write-in.
  • Republican Jesse Calhoun.
  • Also a write-in, Independent Democrat Valerie Faust.
  • Green Party hopeful Theresea Portelli.
  • City Treasurer and Democratic party candidate Kathy Sheehan.
  • Conservative Party candidate Joe Sullivan.

Questions for the candidates covered a range of topics including diversity, neighborhoods, home ownership,  family, youth, veterans, racial profiling, community policing and the inevitable: taxes, education and the student debt crisis. At one time or another during the evening, each candidate managed to connect for better or worse with members of the audience.
Passions and issues took center stage at the forum: the true test comes on November 5th, when voters have their say.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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