Democratic Leadership’s Attempt To Invalidate One Saratoga Petitions Fails

On May 22, 2025, Courtney DeLeonardis, chair of One Saratoga, filed petitions with the Saratoga County Board of Elections to get a ballot line for its endorsed candidates to run in the upcoming November city elections. The following day, May 23, 2025, Otis Maxwell, chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, filed a general objections form, challenging the validity of One Saratoga’s petitions. Maxwell had six days to register specific challenges to individual petitions. Dillon Moran began telephoning people who had and signed or witnessed One Saratoga petitions questioning them in an attempt to uncover fraud. He failed. On May 29, Ms. DeLeonardis was advised by the Saratoga County Board of Elections that no challenges to individual petitions had been filed. One Saratoga’s seven candidates would be on the ballot.

Gathering Petition Signatures Is Not Easy

Gathering signatures has become increasingly difficult every year. Ring doorbells and the general degrading of civil society has meant that citizens are increasingly reluctant to open their doors. [Full disclosure I participated in gathering signatures, and I can testify to how many doorbells one must ring to get a signature, so the success of One Saratoga is truly extraordinary.]

Here are the total number of signatures collected by the city’s two major political parties and those collected by One Saratoga.

Democrat 641

Republican 375

One Saratoga 1,156

So, One Saratoga’s fifty volunteers gathered more signatures than the two main parties combined. This is further proof of One Saratoga’s strength and commitment.

Press Release From One Saratoga

For Immediate Release

June 2, 2025

Courtney DeLeonardis

One Saratoga Secures an Independent Line on November Ballot

One Saratoga chair Courtney DeLeonardis announced that more than 50 volunteers from all political persuasions gathered nearly 1,200 signatures to successfully secure an independent line on the November 2025 ballot for the Saratoga Springs city elections. The number of signatures gathered far exceeds the 631 required to secure the line and was more than that obtained by the major political parties in the city combined.

Since its formation in 2019, One Saratoga has always endorsed the best qualified individuals to govern Saratoga Springs, regardless of their party affiliation.  With their non-partisan line on the ballot, they seek to provide an alternative for those who may be discouraged by the divisiveness and rancor of partisan politics.

One Saratoga has always held firm to the idea of “City before Party” and their endorsed candidates include Democrats, Republicans, and a candidate with no party affiliation.  

DeLeonardis said, “It is not because of their political affiliation that we chose them but, instead, because they are the best individuals to lead, and because they will always put service to our great City before any political party.”

One Saratoga’s endorsed candidates are:

John Safford for Mayor;

JoAnne Kiernan for Commissioner of Finance;

Jessica Troisi for Commissioner of Accounts;

Chuck Marshall for Commissioner of Public Works;

Tim Coll for Commissioner of Public Safety;

Sarah Burger for County Supervisor; and

George Ehinger for County Supervisor.

More information about One Saratoga’s endorsed candidates can be found at realonesaratoga.org.