Democrats in Troy gave Sue Steele an overwhelming margin of victory in Tuesday’s primary for the citywide council president nomination.
Second-term city councilor and Democratic caucus chair Sue Steele of District 3 defeated first-term councilor Emily Menn of District 4 by about a 2-to-1 margin.
Thanking supporters, Steele says she looks forward to the election against Republican Brad Lewis.
“We wouldn’t have done it without you so, thank you so much and now we're gonna take a little break; not a long break but a little break and we'll be back at it for November,” Steele said.
Steele won the bitter race as she runs to succeed Republican Carmella Mantello, who is running for mayor. Backed by the city Democratic Committee, Steele says her experience makes her the best fit.
"I've spent my professional career in city, county and state government," Steele said. "I've been county auditor and clerk of the county legislature. So, I have both the fiscal knowledge as well as the legislative process knowledge."
Menn, a local landlord, says she is proud of her race despite the result.
“I feel really good about the way I ran this campaign,” Menn said. “I stayed positive, you know, you separate what’s personal and hurtful from the problems you’re trying to solve. I certainly has people say I should kick and punch back when my opponent went really negative, but I didn’t have to because I was showing my character.”
Steele says she will mount a more aggressive door-to-door campaign in the fall.
"I think it's going to go very well for us," Steele said. "I'll be facing someone who has absolutely no experience in elected office or on the city council. And I think you have to have a little knowledge of how the Council works in order to lead it. So, but that said, it's up to the voters and well, I look forward to connecting with them and seeing what they would like to have go forward."
Although Democrats currently have an edge on the council, Mantello has shown Republicans can still win a citywide election. Second-term Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden is term limited and leaving office at the end of the year.
The general election is November 7. Early voting begins October 28 and runs through November 5.
