By Kyle Pratt
Executive Editor
Primary day was an important day for elementary school teacher Owusu Anane. He and his team put months of effort into a campaign that, five years earlier, did not result in a win.
This time was different.
After all the counting from Sept. 3 was complete, Anane was the winner of the Democratic Primary for 10th Ward Common Council-member. He received 59.62 percent of the vote. Incumbent Leah Golby received 37.89 percent, according to online Albany County Board of Election documents. He is running unopposed for the general election on November 7.
The victory was the next step in a nearly-decade-long political career.
The 28-year-old was born in Brooklyn to Ghanaian immigrants, and received his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University at Albany.
Anane volunteered for then Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He appreciates the 44th President’s style and said Obama is his political inspiration.
“I admire President Obama’s cerebral and cool approach to complicated situations and making important decisions,” he said, “It’s an approach I would like to emulate.”
Anane’s work on this campaign earned him valuable experience.
“This gave me an opportunity to talk to many in our community about the challenges they face in their daily lives,” he said, “And I wanted to help address these challenges.
He soon put this into action.
The New York City native served as Vice President of College Democrats’ University at Albany chapter, which was chosen as Chapter of the Year by the Democratic National Committee in 2011. Anane currently serves as Election District 4 Representative in the Albany County Democratic Committee. He has worked on the campaigns of Albany County Court Judge William Carter, Albany County District Attorney David Soares, and New York State Assembly- member for the 111th District Angelo Santabarbara.
He has also worked for sitting members of New York State government; including Senators Kevin Parker and Cecilia Tkaczyk, and Assembly-member turn Unites States Congressman Hakeem Jefferies.
During his senior year at the University at Albany, Anane worked as a Session Assistant for Jeffries, who encouraged him to get involved.
“I enthusiastically attended school board meetings, Common Council meetings, and Neighborhood Association meetings,” Anane said.
He spent time getting to know his neighbors, and in 2013, they encouraged him to run for Common Council. He faced two opponents that year, Howard Yaeger and Golby. Anane received about 30 percent of the vote, according to Board of Election documents. Golby won the election with just over 57 percent, with almost seven percent going to Yaeger.
“Although I lost that election, I earned the respect of my neighbors,” Anane said, “And by the time the 2017 election cycle came around, I was able to earn the confidence of the majority of voters I our neighborhoods.”
Some residents of the neighborhood have skeptical hope for Anane’s success.
“It will be difficult, in my opinion, to fill Leah Golby’s shoes,” said neighborhood resident Virginia Hammer, “Need to see how he performs as an elected official.”
Golby declined to comment for this story.
Anane is also a football coach at Albany High School, a position he’s held for four years. The players look up to and respect Anane, Athletic Director Kathy Ryan said.
“He grew up in NYC and was an all-state running back,” she said, “I think those two things make him a natural role model for our kids.”
More students are trying out for the team, which Ryan credits to Anane.
“We have good numbers for the team,” she said, “The number of kids who go out for a team is always a good indicator of what they think of the coach.”
When not campaigning, cooking, or coaching, Anane is a teacher at Woodland Hill Montessori School in Rensselaer.
UPDATE 11/8/17
Golby launched an unsuccessful “late write-in campaign” for 10th Ward Common Council-member, according to the Re-elect Councilwoman Leah Golby Facebook page. The incumbent was endorsed by the Working Families Party, but did not appear on the ballot, according to the post. Anane received 517 votes (75 percent) in Tuesday’s general election. There were 172 write-in votes, the most of any Council match-up in the city, according to unofficial results from the Albany County Board of Elections.
The post also says Anane “has been implicated for wrongful activity with absentee ballots,” and that “Officials are calling for a criminal investigation,” citing a Times Union article from Oct. 30.
Anane found the last-minute campaign divisive.
