Joe Suhrada announced plans to resign as chairman of the Saratoga County Republican Party after a recorded phone call surfaced in which he is heard making racist and homophobic remarks, but he intends to stay on as the county's Republican election commissioner. Suhrada announced his departure in a Facebook post Wednesday night, with the resignation scheduled to take effect Thursday evening, Oct. 22, 2026.
Resignation Announced, But Election Role Stays
Suhrada said he planned to step down so he would not become, in his words, a distraction from the important work ahead, especially so close to Election Day, according to timesunion.com. He had been sworn in as party chair in 2024, per The Post Star. Suhrada confirmed he made the remarks captured in the recording but said they were taken out of context, the same outlet reported.
The audio came from a months-old phone conversation about a March Madness fundraiser, released by the campaign of Republican Assembly candidate Caruso, who is running against Democratic Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner in the 113th District, the report notes. Suhrada accused Caruso of giving the recording to the Times Union as a doctored clip that cuts his mid-sentence statement and removes context. Suhrada said he was quoting a film and had learned not to quote films verbatim.
Suhrada’s Film Quote
Suhrada said he was mocking the bigotry of a bygone era by reciting a line from the 1994 film “Cobb,” according to dailygazette.com.
Calls to Step Down Entirely
Caruso called for Suhrada's immediate resignation as both GOP chairman and Republican election commissioner, saying Suhrada's language undermined public confidence in the democratic process. Caruso said leadership means calling out wrongdoing, including within one's own party, and that Suhrada's racist and homophobic remarks have no place in the community.
A group of state Republican lawmakers also pushed for Suhrada's exit. State Sen. Jim Tedisco, Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh and Assemblyman Matt Simpson issued a joint statement saying there is no place for racism, homophobia or bigotry in the party, and that the Republican Party should welcome Americans from different backgrounds and viewpoints who share its principles of protecting constitutional freedoms and liberties. The lawmakers' delegation called on Suhrada to resign, according to the same timesunion.com report. Other organizations and political candidates also called out Suhrada's use of slurs, the outlet noted.
Political Fallout and What Comes Next
The controversy has already rippled into statewide politics. The New York State Democratic Party criticized Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman over Suhrada's planned departure, according to fingerlakes1.com. The Saratoga County Republican Committee board was expected to meet Thursday evening to name an interim successor, and the county GOP is expected to select a new chair this week, per The Post Star.
The episode also touches on a broader structural question in New York election administration. New York requires each county Board of Elections to have a bipartisan set of election officials.
For now, Suhrada's status as a Saratoga County election commissioner is unaffected by his announced plans to leave as party chair. Whether he ultimately remains in that post, and who will take over as the county's next Republican chair, had not been determined as of the reporting cited above.
