Ed Day will not run for Rockland County Executive

County Legislator Ed Day has announced that he will not run for County Executive. So, look forward to C. Scott Vanderhoef announcing his intent to run again.

"I looked at it from all angles and I realized that the opportunity just isn't there," Day said this morning.

Day, a Republican from New City, would have had to challenge incumbent C. Scott Vanderhoef, a Republican, for the seat in a primary if Vanderhoef chose to run again.

Vanderhoef, who has been county executive for 16 years, has not made a formal announcement about his intent to run again.

Day's posturing was odd to begin with. Why would a conservative Republican run in a primary against a moderate Republican incumbent in a County that has a Democratic majority?

Sources close to Day and Vanderhoef told LOTH that they did not believe that Vanderhoef was running and I think Day was working with the same information I had. These sources (who I cannot name) had hinted that Vanderhoef was waiting to hear about a private sector job or would step away from politics for a short time and run for another office.

While I'm now on the bandwagon with the overwhelming majority that Vanderhoef will certainly defend his position this November, I do not think my sources gave me bad information. My two sources came upon the same information by different means, and they both said that there was a lot of maneuvering and machinations in regard to Vanderhoef's future.

Also, Day's statement catches me as a little odd. He "looked at it from all angles and...realized that the opportunity just isn't there?" This must mean that Day was looking for an opening, and the only thing blocking him from that opening was Vanderhoef vacating the position. Days ruminations were that of a politician jockeying for position in case there was an opening. But what would make Day even assume that such an opening existed? Again, I am further convinced that he obtained his information from one of the same sources that I did.

So I remain convinced that Vanderhoef was seeking another job opportunity, but it just didn't emerge. But this doesn't mean that Vandhoef won't need to polish that resume again come Wednesday, November 4. And it's going to need a whole lot of polish.