Fallout Follows Albany County Democratic Chair Vote

On Thursday, Jack Flynn, Albany's Eighth Ward councilman, was elected to a two-year term as chairman over incumbent and Common Council President Carolyn McLaughlin, by a 185-82 vote at the Polish Community Center on Washington Avenue Extension. When it came time to endorse the party's reappointment of Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Matt Clyne, Flynn's supporters tried to table it. Fallout came Friday, as Flynn was fired over the telephone from his job, which carries a $46,387 salary, as an election education specialist, according to party sources. The dispute over the chairmanship, the Capital Region's traditionally most powerful political post, shows the fractures in the county Democratic organization. The post has legendary connotations stretching back to party boss Dan O'Connell in the as he built the organization in the first half of the 20th century and consolidated power as chairman. Flynn's rise to the chairmanship came as a preview of Albany's 2017 mayoral race as McLaughlin, a potential challenger to Mayor Kathy Sheehan, was voted out as chairwoman. McLaughlin, the highest ranking African-American in city government and the second to lead the county committee, emphasized her success "to diversify the court system in Albany County in the last two years."