A handful of Democrats have been mentioned in party circles as potential county executive candidates. And three have openly acknowledged their interest: former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel, County Legislature Democratic leader Carrie Andrews, and state Assembly member Harry Bronson.
Frankel, so far, is the only Democrat to definitively say that she's running. Andrews is weighing a run, and expects to make a decision soon.
Bronson is the latest addition to the list. He says that some party members approached him in January, but he declined a run at that time because other Dems whom he supported were considering a run. They decided against running, Bronson says, and he was approached again about a month ago. He says that he agreed to give the idea some thought.
He says that he's weighing whether he's the right fit for the job, though as a former county legislator (and Democratic caucus leader) he's familiar with the operations of county government.
"On the flip side of it, I absolutely love my job as an Assembly member," he says. "I wake up every morning very excited about doing the work I do and very excited about representing the people in the 138th (district)."
Bronson says that he expects to decide soon, because if he does go ahead, he wants to go through the committee process. The East Side Democrats meet on April 15, and expect to make their county exec endorsement. The Northwest Dems committees plan to make their endorsement during their May 5 meeting. The county Democratic Committee plans to make its formal endorsement on May 21.
County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo is the GOP candidate for county exec. Maggie Brooks can't run for re-election because of term limits.