MANTELLO LAUNCHES RUN FOR TROY MAYOR
Republican says she would bring a bipartisan approach to the office
 KENNETH C. CROWE II STAFF WRITER
Publication Date: April 12, 2011  Page: B3  Section: Capital Region  Edition: Final Edition 
TROY -- Republican Carmella Mantello launched her campaign for mayor Monday in a contest in which she will have to garner votes from the city's non-aligned and minor-party voters.

City Democrats enjoy a more than 2-1 enrollment advantage over the GOP. Mantello pledged to be bipartisan in governing the city if she is elected. Incumbent Republican Mayor Harry Tutunjian and the Democrats who dominated the City Council have repeatedly clashed on issues over the last three years. Tutunjian could not seek a third term because the city charter limits mayors to two consecutive terms.

About 100 people, including the mayor, turned out to support Mantello as she began her bid for a four-year term in the $95,000-a-year post.

"There's a very simple reason why I am running to be the next mayor of Troy. It's the place I call home," Mantello, the daughter of a retired city police officer, told the crowd gathered in Riverfront Park.

Mantello served three terms on the City Council representing District 3 and ran for mayor in 1999. She recently left her post as director of the state Canal Corp.

Mantello, who lives in the Sycaway neighborhood with her husband and two children, goes into the race at a time when city Democrats have enjoyed a resurgence. The party took control of the City Council in the 2007 elections.

In the city of 24,701 registered voters, the Democrats have 9,279 enrolled members and the Republicans 4,405 while 11,017 voters either belong to minor parties or none at all.

The Democrats have not selected their mayoral candidate for the November election. City Council President Clement Campana and Lynn Kokpa, president of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association and a member of former Mayor Mark Pattison's administration, are viewed as the leading contenders for the nomination.

The race could be overshadowed by the continuing absentee ballot voter fraud investigation in the 2009 Working Families Party primary that ensnared nine Democrats on allegations that ballots were forged.

Campana is one of the nine Democrats scrutinized by a special prosecutor. So far, Rensselaer County Democratic Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough and Councilman Michael LoPorto have been indicted by county grand jury.

Caption: Skip Dickstein/Times Union

Carmella Mantello, center, is joined by Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino, right, and others as she kicks off her campaign for Troy mayor on Monday at Riverfront Park.
 
 
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Keywords:
MANTELLO, MINOR, MAYOR, DEMOCRATS, COUNCIL, TROY, VOTERS, PARK, PARTY,
 
Create Date:April 12, 2011
Input Date:April 12, 2011 3:8
Date last Output: April 12, 2011
Publication Date: April 12, 2011
 
Byline:KENNETH C. CROWE II STAFF WRITER
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Headline:MANTELLO LAUNCHES RUN FOR TROY MAYOR
Category:Loc
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