Otsego County Treasurer Myrna Thayne has filed nominating petitions that could lead to at least one primary in September.
Thayne and Republican-endorsed challenger Edward Keator Jr. filed petitions at the Otsego County Board of Elections office, officials said Thursday. Daniel Crowell filed to run as a Democrat.
The salary for treasurer, a four-year post, is about $62,740 annually.
Thayne and Keator also filed petitions to run on Conservative and Independence party lines, board of elections officials said. Thayne filed petitions Thursday, officials said, and Keator's were filed Wednesday.
Independence and Conservative parties have to authorize someone to run on their lines, Otsego County Board of Elections officials said Thursday.
The postmark deadline for authorization is Monday.
The two independent parties could authorize either or no candidate, board of elections officials said, or authorize both candidates and let voters decide in a primary.
No general objections to the petitions, which are due by Monday, had been filed by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, elections officials said.
Primary day is Sept. 15. The general election is Nov. 3.
In April, the county's Republican Committee endorsed Keator, then a county accountant. Keator subsequently resigned, citing unprofessional conduct by Thayne, which she denied.
In May, Thayne resigned from her position as treasurer of the county's GOP committee, saying the duties were too many and that she wanted to concentrate on county work.
Thayne, 60, of Laurens, said she had a combined 1,100 signatures on her petition, and she collected about 500 of them herself. Of the signatures, 945 were by Republicans, 31 Conservative and 124 Independence, she said. The signatures exceeded the number required, she said, which were 699 Republican, 23 Conservative and 90 Independence.
``I got to talk to a lot of great people in Otsego County,'' Thayne said. ``I was so well-received.''
Thayne said she decided to run for re-election because she is the most-competent candidate, it's ``the right thing to do'' for Otsego residents and she has a strong base of support.
``The politics will take care of itself,'' she said, adding that she will continue door-to-door campaigning before September's primary.
In the 2005 general election, Thayne defeated Henry ``Russ'' Bachman, an independent who ran as a Democrat. She succeeded longtime Treasurer Theodora Moore, a Republican, in 2006.
A message was left for Keator at Ed's Bookkeeping, which also is a campaign telephone number, at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, but no reply had been received by 8:30 p.m.
Duncan Davie, vice chairman of the Otsego County Republican Committee, said Keator was expected to have more than 1,000 signatures from Republicans on his petitions.
A primary would give voters a choice, Davie said, though Keator is expected to prevail because of his qualifications and experience.
``We're pretty confident,'' Davie said late Thursday night.
Crowell, 34, of Middlefield, filed petitions for the Democratic line in the treasurer election. He said having a Republican primary is ``great'' because it gives that party's voters a choice, which is healthy for the political system.
Crowell, managing director for the Northeast of the Halden Group, a financial and software consulting firm based in Virginia, said there were 820 signatures on his nominating petition.
Ed Lentz, chairman of the Otsego County Democratic Committee, previously said 548 signatures were needed for a Democratic petition. The committee has endorsed Crowell.
