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They Want To Be Mayor...

More hats are in the ring for area mayoral contests - races in the the cities of Saratoga Springs and Albany are heating up...

Saratoga Springs City Supervisor Joanne Yepsen announced her candidacy for mayor on Monday. The Democrat says the Spa City needs “a mayor who has a proven track record of putting partisan politics aside to do what’s best for the city.” 

The 54-year old Yepsen, a member of the County Board of Supervisors, lost in a 2010 bid for the 43rd state Senate seat against then-Senator Roy MacDonald. 

Incumbent Mayor Scott Johnson announced last month that he will not seek re-election to a third term. Republicans have not yet announced who they'll place against Yepsen. With a city council and mayor, Saratoga Springs in recent years has been split by bitter debate over charter reform. The mayor’s office has seesawed between Democratic and Republican control for the past decade.

In Albany, Marlon Anderson tossed his hat in the ring - ending weeks of speculation, his Saturday announcement came on the heels of an expected declaration of candidacy by Corey Ellis late Friday. Both Anderson and Ellis had run for mayor in 2009: Ellis racked up an impressive 44 percent of the Democratic primary vote against incumbent Mayor Jerry Jennings' 56 percent.

Anderson tells WAMC he "learned a lot from the last election" while Ellis says he's prepared for what could be long, hard campaign.

Anderson says if elected he will "change politics as we know it in the city of Albany" - he's taking a pro-active stance.  Ellis says he hasn't yet received an invitation to the forum.

Anderson and Ellis face stiff competition from City Treasurer Kathy Sheehan - she has the endorsement of former Assemblyman Jack McEneny, who challenged but lost to Jerry Jennings in a 1997 primary.

Also in the running: Albany restaurant owner Alex Portelli, who expects to be endorsed in May by the Libertarian Party.  Mayor Jennings has not yet publicly announced whether he'll seek a sixth term.

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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