A video of Windham's Republican town supervisor tearing up a newspaper advertisement and throwing the pieces toward his Democratic challenger has thrust an already tense local election into the spotlight ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. The confrontation between Thomas Hoyt and Connor Exum happened at an Oct. 8 Town Board meeting, and it has since become a flashpoint in a rematch that also centers on zoning, a proposed hotel and the direction of the small Catskills town's economy.
According to The Daily Gazette, Exum walked up and placed the newspaper ad in front of Hoyt, who then stood up, ripped it up and threw the pieces toward Exum's face. Hoyt later referred to decorum and described his response as a “defense reaction,” according to the report. A video Exum posted to Facebook spread across Windham in the days that followed, according to the same report.
Hoyt has separately alleged that Exum harassed him both digitally and in person, while Exum has called for Hoyt's resignation over what he describes as inappropriate conduct, per the seed story's reporting. The dispute capped weeks of friction that included Exum questioning Hoyt at a Town Board meeting about the Planning Board's handling of a hotel application, and Exum accusing town officials of soft corruption at an Oct. 1 public hearing on the Windham Mountain Club redevelopment plan held at Windham Town Hall.
A Rematch One Year in the Making
This is the second straight year Exum has challenged Hoyt, after Hoyt defeated him 373 votes to 166 in 2025, a result confirmed by The Daily Gazette. Exum, 46, grew up in Windham and has lived there on and off for 36 years, according to The Overlook. He has never held elected office and describes himself as semi-retired, having returned to town to run his family's business, Reliable Commercial Kitchen Maintenance, which was liquidated in 2021 because of mounting debts, per the seed reporting. Exum studied film and political science before earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Louisville University in Kentucky in 2009, and he has emerged as a spokesperson for residents opposing Windham Mountain Club's redevelopment plan and criticizing town government. Hoyt, 60, has a longer résumé in local government. He was first elected highway superintendent in 1997, served in that role for 18 years, and was elected town supervisor in 2019, per the seed facts. He briefly sought the Republican nomination for the 102nd Assembly District seat vacated by Chris Tague, saying he believed he had a good opportunity to succeed, but ended that campaign after suffering a heart attack in February. He has since retired from Greene County's Occupational Health and Safety Department and told the paper he has been eating better and exercising to prepare for his return as supervisor.
Zoning and a Contested Mountain Hotel
Exum has made opposition to Windham's first-ever zoning laws, passed in June, a centerpiece of his campaign. He would pursue abolishing them, arguing they exclude the town's working class, and has proposed instead allowing denser cluster housing near Route 296, Main Street and connecting roads, telling The Overlook, “We have to make sure we're not limiting our people by having ridiculously sized minimums.” Hoyt has defended the rules as guidelines for being a good neighbor, while acknowledging zoning has long been unpopular among residents, according to the seed story.
The fight has sharpened around a proposed 26-room hotel at Windham Mountain Club, which would replace eight townhouses in the resort's approved master plan and requires Planning Board approval, as reported by the Times Union. About 50 people turned out for a town hall at Wylder Hotel Windham before the Planning Board's regular meeting on Oct. 15, where the board decided it would no longer accept written public comment on the amendment, according to The Daily Gazette's reporting. The hotel proposal was discussed at the gathering. Wylder Hotels CEO John Flannigan offered a warning from a competing lodging operator's perspective, telling the paper, “We don't need more rooms.” The Times Union separately reported local hotel occupancy running around 30%, well below the national average of 62%. Hoyt has countered that the town addressed the hotel proposal objectively and that the Planning Board treated the applicant fairly and did its due diligence.
Gentrification, Housing and Economic Alternatives
Exum traces much of Windham's tension to gentrification that he says took hold as wealthier residents began moving to town in the early 2000s, squeezing out people who cannot afford property or rent and pushing out local businesspeople. He calls affordable housing “middle-class housing” and argues that building more of it would serve current residents and attract workers. He has also floated more ambitious ideas: a community wealth fund modeled on one in Camden, London, and a proposal for Windham to consider buying its own ski slope, pointing to the town-owned operation in Nederland, Colorado, as a comparison. He wants to shrink Windham Mountain Club's share of the local economy from an estimated 70% down to a more manageable 30% by building out alternative revenue streams, and he has estimated that bringing some outsourced town services in-house could save between $140,000 and more than $300,000 a year in the budget.
On infrastructure, Exum has proposed adding more bike paths and improving pedestrian access on Main Street, along with building a self-sustaining microgrid, and he has said he wants to build up the local Democratic Party. He previously opposed a 2024 proposal to move a Little League field beside the Windham Path.
Ambulance Service Tops Hoyt's Agenda
Hoyt has said his top priority if reelected is forming a combined ambulance district spanning Windham, Ashland, Jewett, Hunter, Lexington and Prattsville, according to the seed reporting. He has appeared before the Greene County Legislature to seek additional ambulance funding, and county government has added $400,000 to the tentative 2027 budget for distribution among municipalities. Hoyt has argued that rural areas without a hospital need a reliable EMS system, and he points to other projects completed during his tenure, including an ambulance facility, a senior center and upgrades to the town park.
Greene County voters can begin early voting Saturday, Oct. 24, through Nov. 1 ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, when Windham residents will decide between the two men for the second year running.
