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Blanchfield seeks support for Assembly run

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
Monday, March 17, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- City Council member Democrat Mark Blanchfield is interested in challenging Republican George Amedore for Amedore's 105th Assembly seat.
     
Schenectady City Democratic Committee Chairman Richard Naylor said Blanchfield approached the executive committee for support in this November's race. The executive committee voted unanimously Saturday to recommended Blanchfield's endorsement.
"He was asking for support and we did that," Naylor said this afternoon.
Blanchfield said he's not ready to announce his candidacy. "The way I like to go into political endeavors is to ask for people's support to make these decisions," he said, adding that he will continue to seek support throughout the district.
Blanchfield, 41, an attorney, served for three years as City Council president before Peggy King took over this year. He has been on the Council since 2002.
Blanchfield would likely take on Amedore, who won a special election last year to fill the seat vacated by Paul Tonko. Amedore upset Democrat Edward Kosiur after Tonko, a Democrat who held the seat for 24 years, became president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
The Schenectady City Democratic Executive Committee also endorsed another person who hasn't announced -- Tonko for the 21st Congressional seat. Speculation abounds that Tonko will be the sixth Democratic candidate to enter that race. Tonko has yet to confirm or deny the rumors.
"I don't have any confirmations or specific statements from him," Naylor said about Tonko. However, he said: "my sense is that it's a matter of time. We believe he's going to run and with that in mind he would be the top candidate."

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
City Council member eyes Assembly bid
Amedore seat up for election
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    Mark Blanchfield, a ranking member and former president of the Schenectady City Council, is considering a run against the incumbent assemblyman of the 105th District.
    Blanchfield, 41, received support from the city’s Democratic Committee Saturday for this bid and is expected to receive similar endorsements from the Democratic committees of both Schenectady and Montgomery counties.
    The 105th Assembly District comprises all of Montgomery County and most of Schenectady County.
    Republican incumbent George Amedore Jr. plans to seek re-election this November. He captured the seat, which had been held by a Democrat for 24 years, in a special election last year, defeating Democrat Edward Kosiur by more than 2,500 votes.
    Blanchfield said he is seeking support from organizations and individuals “As I make my way through this decision.” No other candidate has sought the support of the Schenectady city and county committees, their chairmen said Monday.
    “I know of no one else interested. I may be the person,” Blanchfield said. “It is an exciting prospective. If people continue to support me, it may become more and more of a reality.”
    Blanchfield is an attorney with the Albany firm of Hiscock & Barclay. He was elected to the City Council in 2001 and re-elected in 2005. He served for three years as council president and is currently chairman of the council’s finance committee.
    If elected to the Assembly, Blanchfield would leave the City Council with one year remaining in his four-year term. The council would appoint his successor.
    “I have been serving the people of Schenectady for seven years; it has been very satisfying,” Blanchfield said. “The extent that this other position presents another opportunity to [serve] the public could be very fulfilling and I am certain if I decide to do it I can bring a lot of skills and hard work to the position.”
    Blanchfield was not ready to expand on his platform Monday, but said, “I am concerned about the way in which government has been financed. It has been my concern since I have been on City Council.”
    He said he wants “to make sure government is well-managed and that the source of revenue is progressive, not regressive.”
    He and his wife, Beatrice, have two children.
    Brian Quail, chairman of the Schenectady County Democratic Committee, said Blanchfield will make a “fantastic candidate. He has a strong history as a leader and is someone who participated in taking a city on the brink of collapse and turning it around.”
    Blanchfield is “someone who gets results and makes life better for people,” Quail said. He said Amedore is vulnerable to defeat in the heavily Democratic district.
    “What has he accomplished?” Quail asked. “All I see is more of the same. He hasn’t passed a single bill and he fell right in line with the Albany culture of lulus and donothing legislation.”
    Schenectady County Republican Committee Chairman Tom Buchanan said Democrats will find a formidable foe in Amedore. “He is very popular. He won an overwhelming victory, and there is not any reason voters would consider dumping George after one year in office. He is just starting to roll up his sleeves and get to work.”
    Buchanan said he was surprised Democrats would support Blanchfield. “He is a member of the Democrat team that is part of making Schenectady one of the highest, if not the highest, taxed communities in the Capital Region,” he said. “It is surprising they would not try to appeal to a high-taxed-conscious public.”
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.

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It looks like the Dems really want to win that seat back in November.

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A rival for Tedisco?
Saratoga and Schenectady Democratic leaders had come up empty trying to find a November election opponent for Republican Assemblyman Jim Tedisco.
The Assembly minority leader looked like he would get a free ride until last weekend, when Chris Gardner surfaced. "I'm seriously considering running," Gardner said while holding off elaboration.
When Democrats ended three-decades of Schenectady County Legislature Republican rule several years ago, Gardner was named county attorney. He landed the job after engineering the takeover in his role of county Democratic chairman.
While he stepped down as chairman, political observers still consider him the party capo. Back a dozen or so years ago, Gardner was elected to the County Legislature. He was the first Democrat to win a Niskayuna/Glenville board seat. Tedisco has blown away every opponent he faced in a dozen Assembly elections.
In other November races, Mark Blanchfield, a Schenectady City Council Democrat, is expected to announce Sunday
a run against incumbent GOP Assemblyman George Amedore. Also Democratic Mayor Brian Stratton has been privately talking about taking on 30-year Republican state Sen. Hugh Farley. However, party insiders said that move is unlikely.

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The Assembly minority leader looked like he would get a free ride until last weekend, when Chris Gardner surfaced. "I'm seriously considering running," Gardner said while holding off elaboration.

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Blanchfield to announce bid for Assembly
Saturday, May 31, 2008
By Michael Lamendola (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT — Democrat Mark Blanchfield will officially announce his candidacy today for the 105th Assembly District during four appearances in Schenectady and Montgomery counties.
He plans to focus on controlling taxes and creating jobs.
Blanchfield, 41, is a city of Schenectady councilman first elected in 2001. He will challenge Republican incumbent George Amedore, 39, who won a special election last summer to fill the seat vacated by longtime Assemblyman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam.
Amedore said he will seek re-election to a full two-year term in the Assembly.
An attorney with Hiscock and Barclay in Albany, Blanchfield said he wants to make sure that each community in the district receives individualized attention, “so that we don’t follow a one-size-fits-all policy toward economic growth.”
Blanchfield has scheduled announcements at City Hall in Schenectady at 1 p.m.; at the Mabee Farm in Rotterdam Junction at 2 p.m.; at Amsterdam City Hall at 3:30 p.m.; and at Riverfront Park in Canajoharie at 5 p.m. He is expected to receive the endorsement today of the Schenectady County Democratic Committee. He already has the endorsements of the city of Schenectady Democratic Committee and the Montgomery County Democratic Committee.

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SCHENECTADY & MONTGOMERY COUNTIES
Blanchfield ready to challenge Amedore
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    Democrat Mark Blanchfield, a seven-year city councilman, will officially announce his candidacy today for the 105th Assembly District seat held since last summer by GOP incumbent George Amedore during four appearances in Schenectady and Montgomery counties.
    Blanchfield, 41, plans to focus his campaign on controlling taxes and creating jobs.
    Amedore, 39, is seeking re-election to a full two-year term of the seat last spring by longtime Assemblyman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam.
    An attorney with Hiscock and Barclay in Albany, Blanchfield said he wants to ensure each community in the 105th District receives individualized attention, “so that we don’t follow a one-size-fits-all policy toward economic growth.”
    He called the district one of the most economically challenged in the state and one with the highest number of senior citizens, requiring additional resources from Albany. The district consists of all of Montgomery County and Rotterdam, Duanesburg, Princetown and portions of the city of Schenectady in Schenectady County,
    He said as a city councilman, “we made a lot of forward progress and I would like to make sure we continue our forward progress and continue our program to think outside of the box.”
    Blanchfield has scheduled announcements at City Hall in Schenectady at 1 p.m.; at the Mabee Farm in Rotterdam Junction at 2 p.m.; at Amsterdam City Hall at 3:30 p.m.; and at Riverfront Park in Canajoharie at 5 p.m. He is expected to receive the endorsement today of the Schenectady County Democratic Committee. He already has the endorsements of the city of Schenectady Democratic Committee and the Montgomery County Democratic Committee.
    Meanwhile, Amedore is scheduled to join state Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco and several area municipal leaders and a law enforcement representative on the steps of Schenectady City Hall today to promote legislation that would increase penalties in the criminal deaths and injuries of children. This follows last week’s shooting death of a 10-year-old in Albany.
    Blanchfield was re-elected to the Common Council in 2005, the top vote-getter among 10 candidates seeking three open seats. He served three one-year terms as council president between 2005 and 2007.
    He and his wife, Beatrice Tsao, have a 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.
FOCUS ON BILLS
    Amedore said he will formally announce for re-election when the current legislative session in Albany ends this month. He and his wife, Joelle, have three children, ages 17, 15 and 12.
    “We have important legislation we have been debating on,” Amedore said.
    Amedore said he is seeking office again to work toward changes in how state government works. “I have been helping to make some progress. As I said before, change is coming to Albany and that change isn’t going to take place overnight. I need to continue to focus on what I believe in and what the 105th needs desperately.”
    The district needs lower taxes and more jobs, Amedore said. And “we need to get people in Albany who are outside the political spectrum. We do not need more politicians in Albany, which I am not, because of the waste there. It’s dysfunction and it’s out-of-control spending.”
    Amedore, who is vice president of Amedore Homes, ran as an Albany outsider in his first bid for elected office. He faced Democrat Ed Kosiur, a former Schenectady County legislator and former Schenectady councilman.
    Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district, and party offi - cials believed Kosiur would handily win the seat. However, he stumbled almost immediately by supporting legislation that placed residency restrictions on sex offenders. Many people believed the legislation, sponsored by majority Democrats in the Schenectady County Legislature, would force sex offenders out of the Democrat-controlled city of Schenectady and into outlying communities.
NAME RECOGNITION
    Although Kosiur campaigned vigorously, he lost by nearly 3,000 votes. Amedore campaigned aggressively as well, and he also benefitted from strong name recognition in Montgomery County, where he has built homes and has family, and from a strong backlash against the sex offender legislation.
    Kosiur had little name recognition outside of the city of Schenectady. This time around, Democrats picked a candidate with a base in Montgomery County. Blanchfield said he has family in Amsterdam and friends and relatives scattered throughout the county. His father grew up in Amsterdam and his grandfather, James Blanchfield, was circulation manager of the Amsterdam Evening Recorder newspaper for 40 years.
    Blanchfield said he also has support of Amsterdam Mayor Ann Thane and Montgomery County Treasurer Shawn Bowerman, both Democrats.
    Blanchfield plans to knock on doors and meet people in Montgomery County, to further increase his name recognition.
    Schenectady County Democratic Committee Chairman Brian Quail said Blanchfield will make an outstanding assemblyman. “He understands the pressures local governments and people face and that is an important perspective to have because of the trickle down mandates from Albany, which George Amedore has done nothing to stop.”
TAX ISSUE
    Quail said Blanchfield “understands the importance of high taxes, of growing the economy, of creating job, of protecting health care and of controlling crime.”
    Blanchfield’s campaign will compare how Schenectady has “gotten better under Mark and how Albany has not gotten better under Amedore,” Quail said.
    “Amedore has been a creature of the status quo since his leather shoes have hit the tiles of the Capitol,” Quail said.
    Tom Buchanan, chairman of the Schenectady County Republican Committee, cast Blanchfield’s record on the Common Council in a different light.
    “I am surprised they are going with a liberal Democrat who has done nothing but raise taxes during his entire tenure in office,” Buchanan said.
    “The city of Schenectady is one of the highest-taxed municipalities in the Capital Region and Mark Blanchfield is part of the reason,” Buchanan said.
    Republicans will “hammer Blanchfield on quality-of-life issues: Crime and taxes are higher since Blanchfield took office,” Buchanan said. With Amedore, “we get a fresh face with new ideas. He is an individual from a private sector background with a unique perspective.”

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Quail said Blanchfield “understands the importance of high taxes

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Assembly contest is taking shape
Democrat Mark Blanchfield, a Schenectady councilor, to run for 105th district seat held by Republican George Amedore

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published: Monday, June 2, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- Democrat Mark Blanchfield on Sunday officially announced his candidacy for Republican George Amedore's 105th district Assembly seat in November.
Blanchfield talked about the city's improving financial position and ongoing local revitalization efforts that occurred during his tenure on the City Council. His interest in the congressional seat first became apparent when he asked for the Schenectady City Democratic Executive Committee's endorsement in March.
     
Flanked at City Hall by about 50 supporters, including other City Council members, Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton and 21st Congressional district candidate Democrat Paul Tonko, Blanchfield said he wants to bring his experience with Schenectady's successes to the state.
Blanchfield, an attorney who has served on the Schenectady City Council since 2002, compared the city's no-nonsense solutions to when he was 8 years old and ran through a glass door in his house. Blanchfield said his father, an Army veteran, helped stop him from bleeding to death by using a dirty T-shirt. Not the way a doctor would solve the problem, but it worked, said Blanchfield, who was City Council president from 2005 to 2007.
Schenectady climbed out of a possible $10 million debt in 2004 by consolidating services with the county and instituting the controversial trash fee citywide.
"The people of the 105th district deserve someone who has a track record of finding common ground for the common good," said Blanchfield, 41.
Amedore, who won in a special election for the seat July 31, said the state still needs people like himself who came from a non-political background. Before he ran for Assembly, Amedore became known to Capital Region residents when his home building company helped construct a Colonie woman's home on the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
While Amedore has not formally announced his candidacy, he said Sunday he will run again this year for the seat. The 105th district includes Schenectady and Montgomery counties. Tonko served for 24 years until Amedore's election last year.
Blanchfield, who handles legal cases for and against insurance companies, said he's not sure yet how his campaigning will affect his job. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com.

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Blanchfield first to show fiscal responsibility

    Mark Blanchfield’s entry into the race for the 105th Assembly District (June 1 Gazette) couldn’t have come at a better time.
    As longtime observers of Schenectady City Hall, we were both impressed and relieved when Blanchfield came in as a city council member and — for a while, anyway — almost single-handedly turned things around financially. Sure, he had to make some difficult and unpopular decisions, but that’s what real leaders do. Now, with the council and the Stratton administration working smartly together, Schenectady is on the rebound.
    For the other side to try to label Mark Blanchfield as just another tax-andspend liberal is unjustified and shows a lack of understanding of the critical situation Schenectady was in. Councilman Blanchfield has distinguished himself as a thoughtful, progressive representative, and we are confident that the success he’s helped foster in the city can be replicated in Schenectady and Montgomery counties through his service in the Assembly.
    MICHAEL AND CAROL DICERBO

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Is the Blanchfield machine trying to prevent me from appearing on the ballot because they are afraid of criticism over Mr. Blanchfield's record as City Council President?  Possibly.  Either way, the Blanchfield campaign should apologize to Working Families Party members in the 105th Assembly District who could be denied a chance vote for  one of their own this fall all because of a political dirty trick," Salamone concluded.

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Can you tell me Mr S if in deed you share the radical leftist views of Lola Furlani the woman in NY who started this whole she-bang?

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"That some sort of effort is underway to try and stop my grassroots candidacy and potentially disenfranchise my fellow Working Family Party members is truly disheartening.  It goes against every tenet of our democracy, and reflects the very worst of New York's closed political system that has silenced the voices, views and opinions of the working men and women of this state for far too long.  Am I upset?  You bet," Salamone said

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EDITORIALS
A real candidacy or political game?

    All’s fair in love, war and politics, the saying goes, and while Joe Salamone’s effort to get on the ballot as a Working Families Party candidate in the 105th Assembly District is accompanied by more than a whiff of partisan politics, it doesn’t mean there’s anything illegal about it. As usual, the best advice for voters is caveat emptor.
    As a story in Thursday’s Gazette detailed, Salamone surfaced rather unexpectedly last week as a candidate for the seat currently held by Republican/Conservative George Amedore. Until Salamone submitted his petitions, Amedore’s only challenger was Schenectady Councilman Mark Blanchfield, a Democrat who also has the endorsement of the Independence and Working Families Parties. While a Blanchfield backer has filed a general objection to Salamone’s petitions, unless he can find fatal flaws in at least 16 of the 39 signatures submitted, Blanchfi eld will have to run in a primary for the Working Family line.
    Salamone, 21, insists that even though he never asked to be interviewed for the Working Families endorsement, his candidacy is for real — not merely a Republican strategy to deny Blanchfield the Working Family line on November’s ballot, as Blanchfield claims. Indeed, Salamone has been a registered Working Families voter for three years. But Republicans (as well as Democrats) dating back to Frank Duci’s days in politics have tried using the party as a way to get their names on the ballot more times than their major-party opponents — or to deny their major-party opponents the opportunity to do the same. Basically, it’s a big game.
    That certainly seems to be the case here, given how Michael Cuevas — a longtime GOP functionary who currently serves as counsel for Assembly Republicans and who ran for mayor of Schenectady last year — is listed as a contact on Salamone’s campaign; and given how one of the people who helped Salamone collect signatures was Stephanie Tommasone, the daughter of Rotterdam’s Republican supervisor, Steve Tommasone. The elder Tommasone is another of the county’s many Republicans who has run in the past for the Working Families line.
    So-called third-party candidacies have a long tradition in American politics, and there’s nothing wrong with them — except when major-party candidates use end-runs to hijack them for their political ends. Whether that’s really what’s happening here, voters will have to decide for themselves.

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Salamone the real thing; no pawn of Republicans

    Recent accusations that Joe Salamone’s Assembly campaign is a GOP-orchestrated conspiracy are untrue [July 17 Gazette]. As Joe’s brother, I view these attacks as a personal insult to not only our family, but to all members of the Working Families Party in the 105th Assembly District.
    As a member of the Mohonasen Board of Education, Joe is uniquely qualified to tackle the current fiscal crisis facing the state. He sees firsthand the detrimental effect of high property taxes on working families and the elderly. However, he also understands the necessity of providing communities with well-funded schools. The idea that the Democratic political machine is attempting to torpedo this grass-roots effort to bring real discussion on the issues, rather than the usual political rhetoric, is upsetting.
    The Democrats are accusing Joe of hijacking the party of which he has been a lifelong member. It’s no coincidence that these accusations are coming from highranking Democratic officials. The reality is that the Democratic Party is attempting to hijack the Working Families Party, and in the process give the voters fewer choices.
    Rest assured, Joe will continue to fight for the concerns of working families throughout the 105th Assembly District.
    FRANK S. SALAMONE
    Rotterdam

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George Amedore, an incumbent Republican running for re-election in the 105th Assembly District, raised more than $17,000 and ended with more than $41,000 in the bank. He will fight to keep the seat, formerly held by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Tonko. His opponent, Democrat Mark Blanchfield, ended the cycle with  $20,521.38 in the bank, after raising about $20,000 and loaning himself $12,000 and transfering $10,000 from the account that funded his Schenectady City Council campaigns.

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Quoted from bumblethru:
... Don't ya just love the unbiased gazette? They failed to mention exactly 'who' or 'what party' has been collecting petitions  for the conservs...Why the dems, of course.  

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Assembly candidate said he was forced to leave law firm
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By Michael Lamendola (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

SCHENECTADY — For six years, attorney Mark Blanchfield served on the Schenectady City Council and worked for the law firm of Hiscock & Barclay in Albany without issue.
He believed the status quo would remain when he decided to run as a Democrat in the 105th state Assembly District against Republican incumbent George Amedore Jr. He was wrong. Blanchfield said the law firm told him in May he either had to quit the race or resign his position. He resigned in June.
Blanchfield and his Democratic supporters link the law firm’s ultimatum to the influence of Republican forces, including Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady. Amedore is Tedisco’s chosen candidate and he and state Republicans have much riding on the assemblyman’s re-election campaign.
Republicans deny they played a role in the matter, and Hiscock & Barclay Managing Director Thomas J. O’Connor said, “as a general rule, our employees can’t have outside employment without seeking permission.”
O’Connor said Blanchfield is welcome back any time, calling him a good lawyer and close friend.
Blanchfield said he viewed the firm’s outside-employment rule as inconsistent, especially considering that two other attorneys with the firm, Neil Breslin and William Barclay, hold public office. Breslin is a Democratic state senator from Albany and Barclay is a Republican assemblyman in the 124th District in central New York. Both are seeking re-election this year. The law firm has some 200 lawyers and offices throughout the state. Barclay also unsuccessfully sought, with the firm’s approval, the 48th Senate district seat earlier this year.
O’Connor said Blanchfield’s application went before the law firm’s management committee and was not approved. He said Barclay is not a member of the committee, even though he is a partner in the firm, and that the policy applies equally to all employees, even Barclay.

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Candidate forced to leave job, he says
Democrat claims employer, GOP issued ultimatum
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA
Gazette Reporter

    For six years, attorney Mark Blanchfi eld served on the Schenectady City Council and worked for the law firm of Hiscock & Barclay in Albany without issue.

    He believed the status quo would remain when he decided to run as a Democrat in the 105th state Assembly District against Republican incumbent George Amedore Jr. He was wrong. Blanchfield said the law firm told him in May he either had to quit the race or resign his position. He resigned in June.
    Blanchfield and his Democratic supporters link the law firm’s ultimatum to the influence of Republican forces, including Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady. Amedore is Tedisco’s chosen candidate and he and state Republicans have much prestige riding on the assemblyman’s re-election campaign.
    Republicans deny they played a role in the matter. Hiscock & Barclay Managing Director Thomas J. O’Connor said, “as a general rule, our employees can’t have outside employment without seeking permission.”
    O’Connor said Blanchfield is welcome back any time, calling him a good lawyer and close friend.
    Blanchfield said, however, “No one has ever explained to me adequately what the principle was as to why I could not run. It clearly has nothing to do with the quality of my work or my ethics.”
    Blanchfield had been with Hiscock & Barclay since 2003. He was first elected to the City Council in 2001 and ran for re-election in 2005 without objection from the law firm, he said.
    When Blanchfield told the fi rm in March he planned to run for Assembly, he said the response from Managing Partner John P. Langan was that it appeared to be OK. In May he learned otherwise, but by then it was too late to withdraw from the race, he said.
    “I had already taken steps to secure the party’s nomination. I decided to keep my commitment to the party and to the people who supported me to run for this position,” Blanchfield said.
    Blanchfield, 41, who defends people in civil suits, is trying to build his own law practice. “I am a just a hard-working lawyer trying to support my family and serve my community at same time,” he said. He is married, lives in Schenectady and has two children. He served for three years as City Council president and is currently chairman of the council’s finance committee.
    He said, however, he viewed the firm’s outside-employment rule as inconsistent, especially considering that two other attorneys with the firm, Neil Breslin and William Barclay, hold public office. Breslin is a Democratic state senator from Albany and Barclay is a Republican assemblyman in the 124th District in central New York. Both are seeking re-election this year. The law firm has approximately 200 lawyers and offices throughout the state. Barclay also unsuccessfully sought, with the firm’s approval, the 48th Senate district seat earlier this year. He lost in the special election in February.
    O’Connor said Blanchfield’s application went before the law fi rm’s management committee and was not approved. He said Barclay is not a member of the committee, even though he is a partner in the fi rm, and that the policy applies equally to all employees, even Barclay.
    Barclay also serves as co-chairman of the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee. RACC is a political committee that supports Republican candidates for Assembly. It ran Amedore’s campaign last year and will fully support his campaign this year, said Josh Fitzpatrick, RACC spokesman.
    Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, appointed Barclay to chair RACC. Tedisco also recruited Amedore to run for Assembly when Paul Tonko, DAmsterdam, retired in 2006.
    Brian Quail, chairman of the Schenectady County Democratic Committee, said he sees more than coincidence between Blanchfield being forced to decide between his job and a run for Assembly and the connection involving Amedore, Barclay and Tedisco. “I think people can connect the dots,” he said.
    But Tedisco and Amedore said there was no conspiracy to use Barclay’s connections in the fi rm to try to get Blanchfield off the ballot.
    “I think that’s a very large leap,” Tedisco said Wednesday. “One guy in a law firm can make that decision? Don’t you think that’s a large leap? We have nothing to do with it, and I have nothing to do with that law firm.”
    He said Democrats are raising the controversy to avoid debating issues during the campaign.
    “They’re running away from a very bad record,” Tedisco said.
    Amedore said that he has no objection to Blanchfield running for the Assembly seat.
    “Listen, this is a democracy. We can have Blanchfield or whoever,” he said. “Last time it was [Ed] Kosiur. If I win this time, in two years it will be someone else. This is the way our system works.”
    He added that he knew nothing about Blanchfield’s resignation from Hiscock & Barclay.
    “This is the first time I’m hearing about it,” he said. “To ‘connect the dots’ or what have you, I think it’s ridiculous. I can’t speak for the fi rm, but I know one thing of the firm. It’s a huge firm.”
    Barclay referred comments to the law fi rm.

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Amedore opens re-election campaign in Rotterdam

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

ROTTERDAM - State Assemblyman Republican George Amedore officially announced his re-election campaign this morning, anticipating his fight this year won't be at the level of last year's 30-day contentious race to take Paul Tonko's seat.
     
"I have a very aggressive plan," said Amedore standing among about 40 family, friends and supporters on the lawn of Rotterdam Town Hall.

The 39-year-old home builder is being challenged this year for the 105th Assembly seat by Democrat Mark Blanchfield, 41, a Schenectady City Council member and attorney. However, "the voters might not see my face in their mailbox every day like they did last summer," Amedore said.

Political newcomer Amedore won a surprise in the Democrat-heavy district last year against Edward Kosiur. The two spent about $950,000 combined in their campaigns for Tonko's seat.

The latest campaign finance reports show Amedore had $41,276 in his coffers, compared with Blanchfield's $20,521.

Blanchfield and Joseph Salamone, 21, a University at Albany student and Mohonasen Board of Education member, face off Sept. 9 in a Working Families primary. Blanchfield also has the Independence line. Amedore has the Conservative line.

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Amedore begins campaign for full Assembly term
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.

Republican Assemblyman George Amedore Jr. kicked off his re-election campaign Wednesday for the 105th Assembly District, citing “promises made, promises kept” as the theme of his first year in office.
    A m e d o r e , 39, won a hardfought special election last year to complete the term of former assemblyman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam. Tonko resigned part-way into his 13th two-year term on June 30, 2007, after he was named president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Tonko later resigned that position and is now running for Congress.
    This time, Amedore is running for a full term against Democratic challenger Mark Blanchfield, 41, a Schenectady city councilman and private practice attorney. Amedore is executive vice president of Amedore Homes, a company started by his father, George Sr.
    “My goal is to put your money back into your pockets so you can decide what is affordable to your family,” Amedore said during a news conference at Rotterdam Town Hall. He repeated his message two hours later in Amsterdam.
    In his first year in office, Amedore said, he rolled up his sleeves and “worked for the people,” cosponsoring or sponsoring 17 bills that passed the Assembly and bringing around $100,000 in member-item funds to the 105th Assembly District.
    “I have been to every corner of the district and represented all the needs of the constituents of the 105th District,” Amedore said.
    When he ran last year, Amedore said, he promised to bring change to Albany. A year later, he said, that change is coming.
    “As a businessman, I said I would fight against a dysfunctional Albany that taxes and spends too much,” he said. “I voted against $1 billion in new fees and taxes; I fought for the tax cap, which now has support in Albany; I urged cuts in gasoline taxes and the mileage ton tax.” He also said he fought against efforts to increase tolls on the New York State Thruway.
    Amedore said, “We need to elect more people with business experience who are used to doing more with less in Albany. Real change will not come easy, and it will not come quickly.”
    In a later interview, Amedore said he enjoyed serving and meeting people but found the state Legislature to be a frustrating place. “There is a ton of wasted time,” he said. “That irritates me to no end.”
    Amedore also said he would limit himself to a set number of terms in office. “I believe in term limits,” he said. He would not specify a cutoff date but said, “if you can’t get something done in three consecutive terms, something is wrong.”
    He added he remains committed to “winning the small victories people are expecting.”
    Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, who recruited Amedore to run for offi ce, said Amedore has “an outstanding record in his first year as an assemblyman. He won by 12 percent last time. He will win by more this time.”
    Amedore has the Conservative as well as Republican ballot line, while Democrat Blanchfield also has the Independence Party line. Blanchfield faces a primary against Joseph Salamone, 21, a University at Albany student and Mohonasen Board of Education member, for the Working Families line.

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Have a burger - give Blanchfield $
August 18, 2008 at 4:19 pm by Lauren Stanforth, Staff writer

105th Democrat Assembly candidate Mark Blanchfield announced he’s having a fundraiser on Sunday in his effort to unseat Republican incumbent George Amedore. But he wants it to feel more like a family picnic, since his parents will be hosting the event at Wiles Park in Fort Plain.

The event, “is doubling as an opportunity for family and friends from Montgomery County to get together for one final summer picnic,” a release from Blanchfield’s camp states.Blanchfield, now a Schenectady City Councilman, has family roots in Amsterdam; his father grew up there.

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Assemblyman Amedore should’ve held his fire

    You can tell it’s “that” time of year again — election season — when incumbent politicians start using their taxpayer-funded mailing privileges to fill our mailboxes with literature telling us about all the so-called good things they’ve done over the last 12 months.
    The latest political mailing, from Assemblyman George Amedore, is particularly galling on two levels. First, it tries to portray him as “fighting to prevent violence in our communities.” Yet, Mr. Amedore’s actions tell another story: On April 14, he voted against four separate bills drafted to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals and away from kids. Not exactly the kind of fighter I’m looking for.
    And from a fiscal perspective, was this mailing necessary at a time of a state budget deficit estimated to top $6 billion? Gov. Paterson wants to cut $1 billion from health care, higher education and other vital state programs. Surely, Mr. Amedore’s vanity piece could have waited until New York’s economy improved.
    THOMAS BELLICK
    Schenectady The writer is Democratic chairman for the Union and Nott Streets Committee.

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Blanchfield thanks 70 voters
September 11, 2008 at 2:05 pm by Lauren Stanforth, Staff writer

105th Assembly candidate Democrat Mark Blanchfield wants to thank voters for keeping him on the Working Families party line in last Tuesday’s primary by holding a reception Saturday at 9 a.m. at his new headquarters, 122 Jay St., Schenectady.

Blanchfield won 70 votes to 30 votes against Joseph Salamone, a SUNY Albany student who’s on the Mohanasen school board. Before you snicker at the tiny number of voters, chew on this:  the primary attracted 21 percent of Working Families’ voters in Schenectady and Montgomery counties, a pretty good turnout for a year in which there were no state or national primaries.

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105th Assembly candidate Democrat Mark Blanchfield wants to thank voters for keeping him on the Working Families party line in last Tuesday’s primary

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Blanchfield ad twists truth about Amedore

    Many people wonder why good, hard-working, honest people do not get into politics. You can find one answer by listening to Schenectady City Councilman Mark Blanchfield’s radio ad that totally misrepresents a statement by George Amedore and insults the intelligence of the voters.
    Assemblyman Amedore has said repeatedly that he does not view his role as an assemblyman as his job, because he loves it so much and sees it as his privilege to serve the people of our community. A truly admirable reason, considering Mr. Amedore is a successful businessman, devoted husband and father and an active volunteer in the community.
    Unfortunately, Mark Blanchfield has twisted this into campaign mud and implies that Mr. Amedore does not take his Assembly position seriously. Over the years, Schenectady has been plagued by negative campaigns full of lies and distortions and Mr. Blanchfield apparently thinks that is what the voters want. His ad is deceiving and dishonest, so it comes as no surprise that Mr. Blanchfield’s party will not sign a “fair campaign” pledge for truth in campaigning.
    We need good people, like George Amedore, running for office because they want to serve the people, not because they want a job.
    Mr. Blanchfield is a politician and a lawyer and this is the type of behavior that gives each a bad reputation.
    PETER J. GUIDARELLI
    Schenectady
The writer, a Republican, is a former city councilman and county legislator who ran unsuccessfully against Brian Stratton for mayor in 2003.

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Amedore files complaint over opponent's ad
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
By Michael Lamendola (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

SCHENECTADY — Republican Assemblyman George Amedore Jr. has filed an unfair campaign practice charge against his Democrat opponent for airing a “false and misleading” radio ad.
Amedore said Mark Blanchfield’s ad intentionally distorts comments the assemblyman made during an interview he gave after receiving an award from the Capital District Business Review.
The complaint went to the Fair Campaign Practices for the Capital Region, an independent group formed by the League of Women Voters. The Fair Practices Committee reviews complaints and issues non-binding opinions.
Amedore and Blanchfield both signed a pledge to run fair campaigns for the 105th Assembly District seat. Amedore is seeking reelection to a full two-year term after winning a special election last year to replace longtime Assemblyman Paul Tonko, a Democrat and former chairman of the state Energy Research and Development Authority who is now running for Congress.
Blanchfield said the ad is accurate in that it “uses my opponent’s own words and merely repeats sentiments he has expressed on several occasions.”
The ad in question quotes Amedore saying he does not look at his assembly seat as his job. “I have building in my blood,” he says in the Blanchfield ad.
Amedore denounced the ad during a Tuesday morning news conference at City Hall. His campaign provided a transcript of the interview. In it, he says: “I have building in my blood, that’s my job. I don’t look at the Assembly position as my job, I look at it as serving, giving back.”

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105th Assembly District candidates clash over radio ad

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
Last updated: 1:25 p.m., Tuesday, September 23, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- Republican Assemblyman George Amedore today blasted his Democratic opponent for the 105th Assembly District seat, saying a new radio attack ad twists his words.
     
In a press conference on the steps of City Hall, Amedore said City Councilman Mark Blanchfield purposely chopped up the soundtrack taken from a Business Review video interview. The ad quotes Amedore, who is a home builder, saying, ``I have building in my blood, that's my job. I don't look at the Assembly position as a job.''

Amedore said in the the full interview, which is on YouTube, he goes on to say about being an assemblyman, ``I look at it as serving, giving back.''

The incumbent's campaign filed a complaint with the Schenectady County League of Women Voters' Fair Campaign Practices Committee, which can recommend that candidates take unfair ads off the air.

``I'm calling on Mark to stop twisting my words,'' Amedore said.

Blanchfield, who is an attorney with an Albany law firm, did not apologize for the ad, which began running this week. ``It's his own words,'' Blanchfield said. ``It's the same sentiment he's repeated several times.''

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Quoted from bumblethru:
... I really don't think that Blanchfield has a shot at this race anyway. ...

Quoted from Brad Littlefield

Not sure that I agree with your assessment bumble.  I have heard from many who supported Amedore last year and who are less enthusiastic now.  Some of his support will be from those who simply oppose the election of his campaign opponent.  George needs to spend more time with his constituents, particularly those in the hilltowns, hearing of their concerns.  

Quoted from Kevin March

Just so you know, this commercial with Amedore "not my job" didn't come out of the blue, just get made up...

Here's Mark Blanchfield's announcement in Rotterdam (at the Mabie Farm) about his running for the Assembly in the beginning of August.  He mentions the same thing.

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Amedore claims ad is misleading
Blanchfield: radio spot will not be pulled
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    Republican Assemblyman George Amedore Jr. has filed an unfair campaign practice charge against his Democratic opponent for airing a “false and misleading” radio advertisement.
    Amedore said Mark Blanchfield’s ad intentionally distorts comments the assemblyman made during an interview he gave after receiving an award from the Capital District Business Review.
    The complaint went to the Fair Campaign Practices for the Capital Region, an independent group formed by the League of Women Voters. The Fair Practices Committee reviews complaints and issues non-binding opinions.
    Blanchfield said he will not pull the ad, even if the Fair Practices Committee finds it misleading. He said the ad will end shortly anyway and he defended its use.
    “I’m at a bit of a loss to understand why anyone would regard this advertisement as objectionable, especially since it uses my opponent’s own words and merely repeats sentiments he has expressed on several occasions,” Blanchfield said.
    Amedore and Blanchfield both signed a pledge to run fair campaigns for the 105th Assembly District seat. Amedore is seeking re-election to a full two-year term after winning a special election last year to replace longtime Assemblyman Paul Tonko, a Democrat and former chairman of the state Energy Research and Development Authority who is now running for Congress.
    The ad in question quotes Amedore saying he does not look at his assembly seat as his job. “I have building in my blood,” he says in the Blanchfield ad.
    Amedore denounced the ad at a Tuesday morning news conference at City Hall in Schenectady. His campaign provided a transcript of the interview. In it, he says: “I have building in my blood, that’s my job. I don’t look at the Assembly position as my job, I look at it as serving, giving back.”
    During the news conference, Amedore used the word “service” more than a dozen times.
    “Helping the families of Schenectady and Montgomery counties by making positive change was — and still is — my top priority and sole motivation for serving in public office,” he said.
    Blanchfield said he raised the issue because Amedore is using his business interests to advance his political career. “Mr. Amedore has made his business interests an issue in this race and he has asked people to vote for him because of his business interests. He is not shy about telling people he takes part in his family business, which is constructing luxury houses,” he said.
    Amedore, 39, is executive vice president of Amedore Homes, a company started by his father, George Sr.
    Blanchfield, 41, is a Schenectady city councilman and a private attorney.

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Group to hear sides in dispute over ad
Blanchfield allegedly twisted Amedore quote
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    The Fair Campaign Practices of the Capital Region organization is to hear a complaint Monday involving an allegedly misleading advertisement airing against the Republican candidate in the 105th Assembly District race.
    Fair Campaign Chairwoman Joan Elliott said she has notified Assemblyman George Amedore Jr., RRotterdam, who filed the complaint, and Democrat Mark Blanchfield, whose campaign produced the ad, of Monday’s meeting.
    Amedore said he will attend. Blanchfield said that he will seek an adjournment and that either he or a representative will attend the meeting.
    Blanchfield said he will let the ad air until there is a finding and then re-evaluate whether to continue it.
    In the meantime, Blanchfield’s campaign followed up the radio ad with a mailer that includes the same allegation, Amedore said Thursday. Amedore said he received the mailer Wednesday.
    Amedore said Blanchfield’s radio ad and mailer took out of context comments Amedore made during an interview he gave after receiving an award from the Capital District Business Review.
    Blanchfield’s ad and literature quote Amedore saying he does not look at his Assembly seat as his job. “I have building in my blood,” he says in the Blanchfield ad.
    Amedore provided a transcript of an interview from which Blanchfield is said to have taken the quote. In it, he says: “I have building in my blood; that’s my job. I don’t look at the Assembly position as my job: I look at it as serving, giving back.”
    Blanchfield said Amedore sent out a mailer this week that implies that Blanchfield spliced together the phase using “some fancy editing.” Said Blanchfield, “If you look at the YouTube clip, he says that.”
    Blanchfield said Amedore made his business an issue in the campaign and the ad and literature accurately reflect the assemblyman’s statements.
    Amedore, 39, is executive vice president of Amedore Homes, a company started by his father, George Sr.
    Blanchfield, 41, is a Schenectady city councilman and a private attorney. Blanchfield said he would make being an assemblyman his full priority. But he also said that if elected, he would continue to practice law, at least initially. “I would have to make sure my clients were looked after. I can’t just walk away from clients who have active issues,” he said. “I would do my best to make sure they were transitioned appropriately.” He added that he can’t see how he could manage a full-time law practice and serve in the Assembly.
    Elliott said the six-person panel will conduct the hearing and decide by consensus whether the Blanchfield campaign violated their pledges to conduct a fair campaign.
    The independent League of Women Voters formed Fair Campaign Practices for the Capital Region, which reviews complaints and issues non-binding opinions.

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Blanchfield, Amedore ignoring the real issues

    While Messrs [Republican Assemblyman George] Amedore and [Schenectady City Councilman Mark] Blanchfield play the political game of “gotcha,” the more substantive issues of the day that face their Assembly district get sidetracked.
    What, if anything, do they actually stand for? Here is a list I came up with that is of present urgency for the Assembly to tackle : property tax cap/circuit breaker, urban blight, flight of college students who graduate never to return to New York state and, of course, gay marriage. If either one of them can’t answer any of these all-important issues, then they don’t deserve a seat in the state Assembly.
    For all their political rhetoric and nasty, run-of-the-mill ads while running for state Assembly, all their constituents would get are more of the same old same old, which is typical for the most dysfunctional legislative body in the nation — the New York state Assembly.

    GERALD PLANTE
    Schenectady
The writer is a Democratic committeeman for District 2     

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Candidates air unfair campaign allegations
Amedore, Blanchfield exchange volleys
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    Unfair campaign allegations continue to fly in the increasingly divisive race for a seat in the 105th Assembly District.
    Democrat Mark Blanchfield leveled the latest complaints on Friday, accusing Republican incumbent George Amedore Jr. of two violations of the Fair Campaign Pledge each signed.
    On Sept. 23, Amedore filed the first complaint in the campaign with the Fair Campaign Practices of the Capital Region. Amedore alleges Blanchfield aired a radio ad that misinterpreted statements the assemblyman gave after receiving an award from the Capital District Business Review.
    The Fair Campaign Practices was scheduled to hear all three complaints Monday night and is expected to issue findings within 24 hours, said chairwoman Joan Elliott.
    In the latest complaints, Blanchfield said a mailer Amedore sent out last week accuses him of lying on how he put together the radio ad. He said the mailer claims he manufactured Amedore’s statement from different sources. In fact, Blanchfield said he used Amedore’s exact words taken from a clip on YouTube.
    Blanchfield is still running the radio ad and later sent out a flier repeating the assertion. In them, Amedore is quoted as saying he does not look at his Assembly seat as his job. “I have building in my blood,” he says in the Blanchfield ads.
    Amedore provided a transcript of the interview from which Blanchfield is said to have taken the quote. In it, he says: “I have building in my blood; that’s my job. I don’t look at the Assembly position as my job: I look at it as serving, giving back.”
    The second complaint alleges Amedore condones false and misleading information on a Web site, titled “markstaxrecord.com.”
    Specifically, the Web site calls Blanchfield a “union buster.” The site, which does not identify its creator, states: “As a high priced lawyer, Mark Blanchfields’s [sic] firm represents employers against the interests of unionized employees and assists employers in ‘maintaining a union-free workplace.’ ”
    Blanchfield, who is lining up union support for his bid to unseat Amedore, calls the assertion false. “We do not represent employers or anyone else in labor relations matters and certainly not against the interest of unionized employees,” he said in his complaint. “We are unaware of where this false information was drawn from, but it is a complete fabrication.”
    Blanchfield currently works for Daniel Coffey but had previously worked for Hiscock and Barclay. He resigned from Hiscock and Barclay in August; “markstaxrecord.com” was up and running at that point.
    Hiscock and Barclay, on its Web site, states that it advises “employers on lawfully maintaining a union-free workplace, counseling employers during union organization drives and campaigns, and representing them before the National Labor Relations Board and state labor relations agencies in representation cases, unfair labor practice litigation, de-certification cases, unit clarification proceedings and jurisdictional disputes.”
    Blanchfield said he never handled these types of cases when he worked for Hiscock and Barclay during the six years prior to his resignation.
    Amedore said he disavows the Web site and urged whomever is running it to remove the information immediately.
    “I call upon all of my supporters to adhere to the Fair Campaign Practices principles of fair campaigning,” Amedore said. “I understand your enthusiasm, I understand that other campaigns sling mud, but I am committed to running a clean campaign and, if you truly support me and my ideals, you will follow my lead.”

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Ruling issued over complaints
Campaign practices panel faults both candidates
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    Fair Campaign Practices of the Capital Region on Tuesday found both candidates in the 105th Assembly District race circulated distorted and misleading advertisements in two of three complaints it reviewed. It made no finding in the third complaint.
    The six-member panel held hearings Monday on complaints lodged by Republican incumbent Assemblyman George Amedore Jr., R-Rotterdam, and Democrat Mark Blanchfield, a city of Schenectady councilman. Both had signed fair campaign pledges.
    Amedore said he was vindicated by the panel’s decision regarding his complaint. He called on Blanchfield to pull the radio ad and a TV ad, saying it was time to debate the issues affecting the district.
    Blanchfield said he agreed with the panel’s finding concerning Amedore’s “character attack on me, and I respectfully disagree with the other portions of the findings.”
    He would not say whether he will pull his ads. “I don’t discuss my campaign strategy in the media.”
    The panel found Blanchfield’s radio ad and his subsequent automated telephone messages violated the fair campaign principle that a candidate will not permit distorted or fabricated facts regarding an opponent. It said Blanchfield used a partial quote to present the impression that Amedore did not consider elected office his top priority.
    The ad quotes Amedore as saying: “I have building in my blood, that’s my job. I don’t look at the Assembly position as my job.” The actual quote should have continued with the following sentence: “I look at it as serving, giving back,” the panel said.
    “There is a long tradition in New York state of citizen-legislators who serve as lawmakers in addition to their regular occupations. Mr. Amedore considers himself in that tradition,” the panel stated.
    In its second finding, the panel said a flier mailed by the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee implied Blanchfield lied by distorting Amedore’s words in the ad and phone message. The fl ier said: “Blanchfield and the Albany political bosses are distorting George Amedore’s words. Don’t believe their lies!” The flier, according to the panel, did not describe what Blanchfield had said that was untrue.
    The panel said the flier would violate fair campaign practices had the Amedore campaign issued it, for it contained misleading statements that attacked a candidate’s character. However, as the state committee issued it, the panel found that Amedore only violated one principle, that he did not promptly disavow the fl ier.
    On the third complaint, the panel issued no finding on the contents of an anonymous Web site, called “markstaxrecord.com.”
    The panel said Amedore disavowed the Web site, although it was unclear when he became aware of its offensive material. The panel said the offensive material called Blanchfield a “union buster,” which it called untrue.
    The panel said that while “these anonymous Web sites are very difficult to police, candidates have a duty to disavow such a Web site as soon as it is brought to his or her attention.”
    Both Amedore and Blanchfield attended the hearings. Michael Cuevas represented Amedore.

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Farley, Amedore might appear at Schdy council meeting
October 1, 2008 at 4:21 pm by Lauren Stanforth, Staff writer

City Councilman Gary McCarthy said state Sen. Hugh Farley and Assemblyman George Amedore have agreed to appear before City Council Monday night.

McCarthy invited them some months ago, when he wanted to talk to state Legislators about their position on a state bill that would have taken discipline authority away Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett. They never showed, but that bill has long since been squashed.

But McCarthy now wants to talk to them about how to go about giving residents incentives, tax or otherwise, to convert multiple family houses into two or single family residences. The city is trying to find a way to reduce its housing density. A program to knock down the 50 worst properties in the city has been chopped from Mayor Brian U. Stratton’s proposed budget due to financial constraints faced by all municipalities this year.

It’s unknown yet if state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco will appear as well.

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Blanchfield wants job just for the paycheck

    I want to thank Mark Blanchfield for pointing out that George Amedore does not consider his being an assemblyman as being a job.
    This tells me that Assemblyman Amedore wants this position not as a good-paying job whereby he can benefit personally, but his priority in being an assemblyman is to serve his constituents and to try to do what he can to make the state Legislature more functional.
    It would appear Mr. Blanchfield views that being an assemblyman is self-serving employment (just a job). Many of us would like a job that pays $88,500 plus many fringe benefits, but Amedore is indicating that is not what is most important to him.
    Mr. Blanchfield apparently doesn’t recognize that Assemblyman Amedore is saying he doesn’t need the position as a means of financial support, but that he wants the position to make a contribution of his service. Mr. Amedore is not a politician, but rather a businessman who has had experience controlling costs and seeking satisfaction by accomplishment. I myself want a legislator who is concerned about me and not his own financial gain.
If Mr. Blanchfield wants the Assembly seat just because it is a good-paying job for him, I hope he does not get it. I would rather be represented by one who has the interests of my neighbors and me in mind. George Amedore’s record so far shows that.
WILLIAM ZIMMER
Rotterdam

Quoted from benny salami

8) It takes a lot of courage to raise the taxes on the poor people of the City 75%? Mark "understands the importance of high taxes" and is now going to solve the high prices at the pump? Give us a break.

     Just what we don't need in Albany another attorney, pro-taxes, who refuses to listen to the taxpayers, and votes with Shelly Silver 100% of the time. George has made mistakes but he is coming from the right place. He has tried to stop absurd Thruway toll hikes and idiotic State spending. Don't go back.

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Wednesday, October 8, 2008 - 2:24 PM EDT  |  Modified: Wednesday, October 8, 2008 - 2:26 PM
Business Review demands Blanchfield stop using unauthorized video

The Business Review (Albany)

Attorneys for The Business Review have demanded that Mark Blanchfield, a candidate for the state Assembly, stop his unauthorized use of copyrighted footage from the newspaper’s “40 Under Forty” 2008 video production in a campaign commercial.

Blanchfield is challenging incumbent state Assemblyman George Amedore (R-Rotterdam), who is also vice president of Amedore Homes Inc., and was honored with 39 other business people at The Business Review’s event in May. Amedore taped an interview with the newspaper as part of the event.

Blanchfield’s campaign obtained a copy of that interview and selectively edited it for use in TV and radio advertisements against Amedore.

“The Business Review owns the exclusive copyright in the 2008 “Forty Under 40” video,” said Business Review Publisher Carolyn Jones. “Our newspaper never granted Mr. Blanchfield permission to use the video for any purpose, including for a commercial for his political campaign.

“Mr. Blanchfield has edited the video in such a way that it improperly portrays the context of the video interview. Beyond that, this is a misappropriation of The Business Review’s rights and clearly constitutes copyright infringement in violation of federal and state laws.

“We have demanded that Mr. Blanchfield cease the use of the video immediately,” Jones said.

Both campaigns had posted parts of Amedore’s interview on YouTube.com, a video-sharing Web site. The Business Review requested that its copyrighted material be removed from the YouTube site.

The Blanchfield campaign had not responded to the newspaper’s cease-and-desist demand as of Wednesday, Oct. 8.

Quoted from JRaup

Blanchfield should have known better.  Being a lawyer and all.  

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EDITORIALS
Take the high road in the 105th

    Democratic Assembly candidate Mark Blanchfield assures us we’ve seen and heard the last of his controversial ads quoting Republican opponent George Amedore out of context on how he views his Assembly job. That’s a relief because the ads and automated phone calls using the quotes were clearly misleading — as the Fair Campaign Practices of the Capital Region opined Sept. 30 — and the squabble that erupted over them has been an unwelcome distraction for voters in the 105th District. Let’s hear where both candidates stand on some real issues, please.
    Blanchfield’s ad excerpted a video of Amedore taken by the Business Review newspaper to make it seem that Amedore doesn’t take his Assembly seat seriously: “I have building in my blood, that’s my job. I don’t look at the Assembly position as my job.” Perhaps Blanchfield’s ads would have been justified had Amedore’s remarks ended there, as the ad implied. Instead, the first-term assemblyman continued, “I look at it as serving, giving back” — which put an altogether different spin on them.
    Of course politicians frequently use their opponents’ words against them in this fashion — twisting the words or excerpting parts of quotations to make it seem that they’re saying something entirely different from what they’re really saying. And frequently, they get away with it.
    It’s the reason the League of Women Voters has established a Fair Campaign Practices program — a nonpartisan panel designed to serve as an official arbiter when there are such complaints. Not all candidates or parties agree to participate in the program, but both Blanchfield and Amedore did at the beginning of this campaign. But when the panel found against him — it also decried an Amedore ad calling Blanchfield a liar — Blanchfield disagreed and refused to pull his ad. That may have been his legal right, but it’s not how the game is supposed to be played. His decision not only undermined the ability of an independent arbitration system to keep this campaign on the high road, but others in the future.
    Amedore supporters have been using sneaky tactics as well, misrepresenting Blanchfield’s record on an anonymous Web site. Both candidates need to denounce the dirty politics, put these episodes behind them, and start talking about where they stand on some real issues in the month that remains before Election Day.

Quoted from bumblethru

And who else better?  The lawyers know the way to do it AND get away with it!

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105TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Fair Campaign group finds Amedore ads OK
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net

    Republican Assemblyman George Amedore Jr. didn’t distort the record when he accused Democratic opponent Mark Blanchfi eld of voting to raise taxes and wasn’t misleading when he distributed a flier reprinting a newspaper headline, a non-partisan watchdog group determined. Blanchfield had protested the campaign tactics.
    The Fair Campaign Practices of the Capital Region ruled against both complaints filed by Blanchfield against Amedore, the 105th Assembly District incumbent Tuesday. The non-binding determination was made after a panel of six who heard representatives from both campaigns Monday evening. Neither candidate attended the hearing.
    In Blanchfield’s first complaint, he argued Amedore’s campaign and Amedore himself had falsely characterized his record on the Schenectady City Council. He alleged the campaign had unfairly characterized him as sitting on the council while taxes for the average homeowner increased by 75 percent.
    The panel determined there was enough evidence that taxes had increased by this amount during Blanchfield’s tenure on the council. They also chastised Blanchfi eld for not including his argument with one he filed earlier.
    Blanchfield’s second complaint took issue with an Amedore fl ier that he accused of manufacturing a newspaper headline. He also claimed the mailer misleadingly included a paragraph that appeared to be part of the newspaper article, but was instead part of a Fair Campaign Practices ruling.
    The panel rejected these assertions and noted that the headline was in fact published online. They also noted that the Fair Campaign Practices ruling was in no way distorted by Amedore’s flier.
    Blanchfield was disappointed by the ruling, but didn’t seem surprised. He said the panel had put him at disadvantage by accepting information from Amedore’s campaign that wasn’t properly vetted before his hearing.
    “In no way did I raise taxes for homeowners by 75 percent,” he said. “ It’s too bad they’re giving these folks full rein to do whatever they want.”
    Amedore was pleased with the ruling and is awaiting a decision on three complaints he filed against Blanchfield recently. He insisted he is abiding by the fair campaign pledge and criticized Blanchfield for filing frivolous claims instead of sticking to the issues.
    “I am pleased with the ruling and I’m hopeful Blanchfield’s campaign will get back and focus on the issues,” he said.
    The rulings were the latest in a volley of complaints made to Fair Campaign Practices by Amedore and Blanchfield. Earlier this month, they found that both candidates circulated distorted and misleading advertisements.

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In Blanchfield’s first complaint, he argued Amedore’s campaign and Amedore himself had falsely characterized his record on the Schenectady City Council. He alleged the campaign had unfairly characterized him as sitting on the council while taxes for the average homeowner increased by 75 percent.
    The panel determined there was enough evidence that taxe