Joe Suhrada Says He'll Quit as GOP Chair and Keep the Election Job.

Joe Suhrada announced on October 21 that he would step down as chair of the Saratoga County Republican Committee after a recording surfaced of him using an anti-Black slur and a homophobic slur. He said he would remain the county's Republican elections commissioner. WAMC reported the announcement and his response.

One job becomes a distraction. The other, which involves the public's elections, apparently remains a perfectly comfortable fit. I would like someone to explain that sorting process.

The spring phone call concerned a March Madness fundraiser. Republican Assembly candidate Allen Caruso's campaign released the clip during the week of October 20. Suhrada said he was quoting the 1994 film Cobb, mocking an earlier era's bigotry, and that the short clip omitted context. WAMC reported his apology and his accusation that Caruso was exploiting the recording for political purposes.

The movie explanation has evidence behind it. The Times Union identified the corresponding scene, and Ron Shelton's published draft screenplay contains the slurs in Cobb's basketball rant. The people around the character are appalled. This isn't a case where the film title was simply pulled out of thin air.

It still leaves a fairly obvious question: what did those particular words add to a discussion about a fundraiser? You can dislike basketball without borrowing the racial commentary from the guy horrifying the room.

Local Republican lawmakers called for Suhrada to resign. The Times Union reported that state Sen. Jim Tedisco's spokesman said the demand included his elections position. The objection came from inside his own party, and it extended beyond who gets to chair the next committee meeting.

As of October 25, the county Board of Elections page listed Joseph J. Suhrada as its Republican commissioner. It also describes preserving public confidence as part of the bipartisan department's responsibility.

That is the part I care about. A party can decide whom it wants running its meetings. The election office serves voters who never joined the club. Explaining why the recording should cost one title but leave the public job untouched ought to take more than a movie recommendation.