Krapf vs. Bartlett described as ‘a Republican primary’
Democratic nominee for Columbia County Sheriff Don Krapf voted for Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020, according to three sources who had face-to-face conversations with him earlier this year.
According to one source, Krapf not only admitted voting twice for The Other Donald, but added that he couldn’t support Hillary Clinton in 2016 “because it would have been like voting for the Devil.”
“I wondered about his Trump leanings when I saw his orange campaign signs,” quipped one prominent Democrat who is supporting incumbent Republican David Bartlett for Sheriff, despite the County Democrats’ endorsement of Krapf.
Though Krapf’s campaign slogan is Transparency Creates Trust,* the candidate has refused to confirm or deny his alleged support for Trump, even when asked directly multiple times. Krapf also declined to participate in a telephone interview, asking that questions be submitted instead via Facebook messenger—then ignored all messaged questions.
This reporter finally cornered Krapf at a campaign event this month. But the Dem nominee again dodged the specific question of whether he had voted for Trump in either 2016 or 2020, or both, saying that national politics were not a part of his campaign. (Previously, this site had asked him how national politics could be excluded from a sheriff’s race, when issues crossing local and national boundaries such as ICE raids have been hotly-debated in recent years. Again, no response from the Transparent Candidate.)
“The County Democrats are basically funding a Republican primary in November,” said one party insider. “I don’t know why we couldn’t find an actual Democrat to run, especially since Bartlett seems vulnerable this cycle.”
Bartlett’s campaign has been dogged by the fallout from the savage beating of Harold Handy at the Kinderhook home of Sheriff Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach last year, while Bartlett’s surrogates have have hit back with allegations that Krapf was “disciplined for multiple domestic disturbances.”
Deputy Sheriff Don Krapf
Krapf’s former campaign manager, Sam Donnelly, also dodged the same Trump question shortly before he resigned over the summer. Donnelly was paid out of funds assigned to support the Democrats’ nominees, but was reportedly instructed by then-Dem chair Keith Kanaga to only focus on the Sheriff’s race.
Adding to credible suspicions that Krapf was a Trumper as recently as November 2020, he also declined to respond to the same question during interviews conducted by the Columbia County Democratic Committee.
According to committee members present at the interviews, Krapf and his Republican incumbent opponent, David Bartlett were both asked about Trump. Bartlett reportedly stated definitively that he did not vote for Trump in 2020. But Krapf refused to answer the committee’s question, leading several present to infer that he had supported Trump—since there would be only upside to telling Democrats he hadn’t.
A number of County Dems further noted that Bartlett seemed much more informed and professional in his presentation to the Committee, while Krapf appeared unprepared and vague. Nevertheless, the committee gave their nod to Krapf.
No debate has been held between the candidates in advance of Tuesday’s general election.
As of 2019, Krapf was a registered Republican. Donnelly indicated that the candidate intended to switch his registration to Independent after the November election, but not before. Current Board of Elections records indicated Krapf has switched to “NOP,” for No Party enrollment.
Krapf has also indicated that if elected he would tap Jackie Salvatore, a retired State Police official, as undersheriff. Salvatore was a registered Conservative until recently, also switching to NOP.
Sheriff David Bartlett
The party’s NGP VAN (Voter Action Network) database, which rates voters as to how conservative or liberal they are, shows that Krapf actually has a slightly more right-leaning rating that his Republican opponent, Bartlett.
Meanwhile, two sources said that when speaking face-to-face with Krapf last Spring, he admitted that he not yet vaccinated. Donnelly claimed that on the advice of his doctor, Krapf was waiting to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and eventually did so. This site knows of no reputable doctors who have advised patients to wait for the J&J vaccine over Pfizer or Moderna; indeed, the J&J vaccine has been widely considered the least effective of the three.
One Democratic source claimed that Krapf was disinvited from a party fundraiser earlier this year due to a lack of vaccination, but believes he is probably vaccinated now. Krapf was maskless at the campaign event noted above, and maskless again when he cast his vote early in Hudson, according to one poll watcher who disapproved.
Any whiff of Trumpism among County Democratic nominees seems especially ironic, given party officials and committee members have harshly condemned any Democrat who has given even mild thanks or praise to local Republicans, let alone supported Trump. Indeed, even the slightest association with Republicans has been grounds for virtual excommunication from party affairs—except when it’s blessed by Democratic party officers.
Krapf did answer one question: Why didn’t he seek the Republican nomination, since he had been a Republican for so long?
“I didn’t want to divide the party,” he said—meaning the Republican Party. That’s mighty considerate of a Democratic nominee, helping the Republicans to stay united.
Observers are left with a strong impression that the County Dem leadership was so desperate for a win, that they didn’t particularly care whether their nominee was cut from the same cloth as the GOP incumbent.
Krapf’s strategy appears to be to keep his head down, and offer only bland, general policy proposals, in hopes of garnering all the votes of rank-and-file Democrats unaware of his Republican background… while earning just enough GOP votes to put him over the top in a close race.
It might work; some political observers strongly believe that Bartlett has burned too many bridges to get re-elected. But what will the Dems have really accomplished, besides swapping out a law-and-order Republican for a conservative cop of their own?
Update: Since publishing this piece on Thursday, this site has received additional confirmation that Krapf indeed has said he voted for Trump in both of the last two Presidential elections.
* Oddly, Krapf’s slogan seems to have changed slightly over time. The sign in the photo atop this article, taken early in the campaign, says “Transparency Shows Honor.” Later, this morphed into “Transparency Creates Respect,” before settling on “Transparency Creates Trust.” Apparently transparency is transformable.
