TROY — Crossed wires and an abridged campaign season means there won't be a League of Women Voters forum for the 107th Assembly District.
The race between Republican Jake Ashby and Democrat Cindy Doran to fill the Assembly seat formerly held by Steve McLaughin, who was elected Rensselaer county executive in November, will be decided with a special election April 24. An effort by the League of Women Voters of Rensselaer County to host a forum for the candidates was abandoned earlier this month after the group couldn't connect directly with Ashby about attending, according to the group's president, Margaret Story.
She said they had a commitment from Doran to participate in a forum.
Story explained that she initially contacted Rich Crist, a Republican operative in the county, based on the belief that he was the campaign manager for Ashby. When she was informed that Crist didn't have an official role on the campaign, she tried to connect with the candidate through his campaign website.
"I didn't hear from him," said Story, who could only wait a few days for a response because the election's shortened campaign season meant a narrow window to put the forum together. League of Women Voters guidelines prevent a local chapter from hosting a forum if one of the major party candidates doesn't agree to participate, so the forum was scrapped.
"We wanted to provide a forum for the people of the 107th District," she said.
Ashby said he was never contacted by the league through the campaign website. "They never contacted me directly," he said. "I'm not a hard guy to find either."
An internet search of Ashby and his occupation returns his company's website, which includes a phone number. Crist, speaking in defense of Ashby, questioned why the league had been able to reach out to Doran directly.
In a statement, Doran expressed disappointment about the cancelled forum, which she described as an important test for every candidate pursuing public office. "I stand ready to take the test and I won't be hiding behind a spokesperson. I'll be speaking from the heart," she said.
The candidates took questions recently in a Sand Lake forum, which Ashby said was organized by local Republicans.