Clinton aide’s entry should begin shaping field for McNulty’s seat

The entry of a former aide to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the race to replace retiring Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.) could break the ice on a slow-forming primary field that will likely decide McNulty’s successor in September.

Clinton Regional Director Tracey Brooks left her job this week and announced her candidacy on her website Thursday morning, becoming just the second Democrat in the race. All eyes now turn to Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton and state Energy Research and Development Authority President Paul Tonko, two well-known local figures who are weighing their options.

While other open-seat races have filled within days of retirement announcements, it has been more than three months since McNulty announced he would not run again. The only other candidate to date in the Democratic race, Albany County legislator Phil Steck, joined in mid-December.

The late primary date has much to do with the late start, but local Democrats see Brooks’s entry pushing Stratton and Tonko because supporters will be looking for someone to support.

Susan Savage, the chairman of the Schenectady County Legislature who turned down a run, said uncertainty about what the field would look like has delayed the process for the candidates.

“They’ll have to make their decision and announce quickly,” Savage said. “There’s a lot of money that needs to be raised, there’s a lot of physical ground to cover. Anyone who decides they are a candidate needs to make that decision very quickly.”

Savage said she expects one of the four — Brooks, Steck, Stratton or Tonko — to become the Democratic nominee.

Some local Democrats say Stratton and Tonko may split themselves between the congressional race and an important state Senate race in a district that takes up much of McNulty’s 21st congressional district.

McNulty’s chief of staff, Charlie Diamond, said that Stratton and Tonko have the advantage of being household names, but that Brooks and Steck are formidable candidates, too.

Brooks and Steck both come from Albany County, which accounts for about half the district’s votes, while Stratton and Tonko both come from another part of the district.

“They’re all formidable candidates, and I’m very confident that in the next four weeks, most Democrats in this district will know the names of those four, or at least those who have announced,” Diamond said.

Brooks launched her campaign with a robocall received by many Democratic operatives in the district.

She told The Hill on Thursday that she will be supported by EMILY’s List, the pro-abortion rights group that steers donations to female candidates around the country. Ramona Oliver, a spokeswoman for the group, said the endorsement is “not official yet, with the operative word being ‘yet.’ ”

Brooks said: “We do expect one or two more people, at least, to get in. But we’re in with both feet, we’re very organized, very prepared, and we’re ready to roll with a primary race.”

National Republicans, who are looking to regain their seats in the neighboring districts of freshman Reps. John Hall (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D), don’t have many prospects in the 21st right now. McNulty’s district voted 55-43 for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.

Former Saratoga County Treasurer Chris Callaghan (R) has said he will make his intentions known after Super Tuesday. Attorney Warren Redlich is in the race.