Troy Republicans had a hot idea: appoint Jason Schofield, the former elections commissioner of the Rensselaer County Republicans, to serve as an assistant to the city clerk. Public service is a good thing. So that sounds normal enough. But what happened to Schofield’s gig as elections commissioner? Welllll …. he had to resign a year ago as part of pleading guilty to federal elections fraud charges tied to fraudulent absentee ballot applications in county elections back in 2021.
According to a news report from the time of his plea last January, Scholfield he facesup to five in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on May 16th of this year. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced in May 2023 so the case seems to be moving at a Trumpian pace.
City Council Majority Leader Tom Casey (R) argued criminal justice reform when making the case for Schofield’s appointment after City Council President-elect Sue Steele (D) called the proposed appointment a “slap in the face” of voters. “Jason Schofield,” said Casey, “made a mistake that he quickly took responsibility for. In this state, we’ve had a lot of justice reform. When people make a mistake, it should not rob people of their life.”
In another comment, Casey called Schofield “perfect for the job” despite having “some legal trouble.”
But things moved fast in Troy, New York. On Saturday, Casey announced that Schofield had withdrawn his name from consideration for the assistant city clerk gig.