Anton Konev until recently was a lifelong Democrat who often came to functions of the Albany County Young Democrats. Now he is a Republican running for County Legislature against Mary Lou Connelly in Guilderland.

Why did he switch parties? It's less then clear, and he has yet to give any public justification for his actions. He says that he has both "Democratic and Republican views". In other words, he got an opportunity to run with help from the State Republican committee.

His issues are that the county legislature is too expensive, taxes are too high, and that the county would save money by moving the county nursing home of its books and into a public authority. He argues that too many elected officials in the county have been around too long, and have been corrupted by power.

Those allegations are common about our legislature, whose hands are often tied by the state. The county doesn't choose to have a nursing home, a jail, or a probation system—the state mandates it. Moving any of those systems off the books won't make them any cheaper to taxpayers, it will still require significant allocations of money, along the added bloat of a public authority.

We might be able to save a little money by shrinking the legislature, or cutting back benefits, and pays. Yet, that's a tiny part of the county budget. We have to pay legislators decently to encourage quality people to run. Having 39-districts allows for effective representation of minority populations? Shouldn't the Hilltowns and farmers have their own representative? What about areas of the city where blacks are in the majority? It makes little sense to change the legislature from the way it currently is.

You have to wish people like Anton would think before making such a stupid political move. He could have had an active roll in the Democratic Party, first by contributing to campaigns time, money, and labor, then by joining the county committee, then running for local office. If he did well at those places, he could move up to the County Legislature and higher office. That’s how it works as a party member – you work hard and you get ahead. The Republicans, desperate for a candidate, allowed him to jump ahead.

But now it's Anton's race to lose. And he will lose, as an inexperienced kid whose only real political experience is serving as a Student Senator at the University at Albany. And unfortunately for him, quitting the party, jumping ahead, and not learning the ropes the proper way will resonate poorly with voters who want a county legislator who is experienced and knows the issues. He’s going to get a beating for once again wandering out in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time of night – by the voters.