Party bullish on Putnam executive race
When David Bruen defeated three other candidates in 1978 to become Putnam's first-ever county executive, he also became the only Democrat to ever occupy the office.
In nearly five decades, a succession of Democratic candidates failed to surmount the Republican advantage in party registration and their candidates' traditional support from the Conservative Party. But Democrats are hoping the dry spell will end this year as Brett Yarris challenges incumbent Republican Kevin Byrne.
Their hopes are bolstered by Democrats performance in last year's election, when the party gained control of legislatures in Dutchess and Orange counties and defeated Republicans in other state and local races in New York and nationally amid flagging support for President Donald Trump and his policies.
Opposition to Trump and fervor over winning the congressional seat held by Rep. Mike Lawler, whose district includes Philipstown, are expected to drive high local turnout for Democratic voters.
Byrne could also be harmed by the Putnam Conservative Party's endorsement of its chair, attorney William Spain, for county executive. If Spain, a former county attorney and the brother of county attorney Compton Spain, stays in the race, it could deprive Byrne of Conservative votes that have usually aided Republicans.

As of February, Republicans still held an advantage over Democrats in active-voter registration: 24,723 versus 22,080. Another 21,235 active voters are unaffiliated; 2,777 are designated as "other"; 1,689 are Conservative Party members; and 292 belong to the left-leaning Working Families Party.
"Democrats are rightfully ticked off; frankly, a lot of independents are also rightfully ticked off, and even some Republicans," said Jennifer Colamonico, chair of the Putnam Democratic Committee. "Of all the years to bank on a Democratic overperformance, it's this one."
"We've seen this kind of talk before, but elections in Putnam County aren't decided by press releases or predictions," said Joe Nickischer, Byrne's campaign spokesperson. "Others can talk about confidence. We'll keep focusing on results."
Asked about Spain's endorsement as the Conservative candidate, Nickischer said Byrne has "a broad coalition of support from Republicans, Conservatives, independents and common-sense Democrats" and has amassed endorsements from "organizations representing families, taxpayers, first responders and labor."
Byrne "has outperformed every candidate on the ballot in every election he has run," said Nickischer. "The Conservative Party has time to finalize its own internal process and figure out what it needs to do to accurately represent Conservative voters. Those voters already know and support Kevin Byrne."
Yarris, a former special education teacher who now provides services to people with special needs, said he also has a base of support that goes beyond his party. He said that, while he lost by 5 percentage points to Republican Jake D'Angelo in last year's contest for the District 5 seat on the Legislature, he drew votes from Republicans and Conservatives.
"What I've learned over the last year is that nobody is satisfied with where Putnam County is right now — not Republicans, not Democrats, not independents, not Conservatives," said Yarris. "Don't vote for me because I'm a Democrat; vote for me because I have the vision and I have the plan and the leadership to bring people together to move us forward."

Dems Eye End to Dry Spell