With Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner moving to challenge County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef in November, there are some intriguing possibilities for both major parties in Rockland.

Kleiner has been prepping for the run every since passing up a shot at county executive in 2005, when Ellen Jaffee got the Democratic Party nomination. Kleiner stayed on the sidelines, he said at the time, because of
unfinished business in Orangetown, primarily the town’s plans for property it purchased at the Rockland Psychiatric Center. That’s far from complete, but the plans are in place and unfolding gradually.

It’s a bit surprising that Jaffee, now in the state Assembly, doesn’t want another opportunity after her credible finish in 2005. She didn’t come as close as Alex Gromack in 1997, but that race came after Vanderhoef’s first term, way before he started to look like a permanent fixture in the County
Office Building.

Jaffee now is supporting Kleiner. A few years back, Ramapo Supervisor Chris St. Lawrence might have been the obvious front-runner to challenge Vanderhoef, but heat over zoning issues and his courtship with the town’s religious bloc vote may have dampened his broader aspirations, at least for now.  Former Assemblyman Ryan Karben, too, was once a possible challenger for Vanderhoef, but his unexplained Albany resignation, followed by a high-profile legal battle over a driving while impaired charge, have left him on the sideline. Gromack, now Clarkstown supervisor, seems content where he is.

All of that minimizes the likelihood of a Democratic primary, something the party would hope to avoid after the bloody primary battle between Assemblyman Sam Colman and Rockland’s first County Executive, John Grant, virtually handed the job to Vanderhoef when he ran the first time in 1993.

But what about the Republican side?

You’d have to think that the nomination is Vanderhoef’s, if he wants it. But while he’s been county executive, he’s unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Eliot Engel, tried to toss his hat into consideration for president of RCC,
flirted with a run for state comptroller and campaigned for lieutenant governor. And then there’s the persistent talk that he might somehow land a judgeship.

That would open a door for county Legislator Ed Day, who allows that he’s interested if the opportunity arises.

But if Day senses Vanderhoef to be vulnerable over budget, taxes or other issues, might he take the primary route? We won’t be sure of that for a while.