Current Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse is set to lose his primary.

Democratic Party chair Gil Ethier told Spectrum News reporter Mercedes Williams on-air that it appears Bill Keeler will be taking over the Democratic line in November’s election. Unofficially, Bill Keeler earned 972 votes while Morse gathered 869 total votes.

“It looks to me, unofficially, Bill Keeler will be the Democratic candidate for mayor,” Ethier said.

Keeler is a retired State Police commander, and has a focus on fighting crime, which he believes has taken a backseat in the city. He spoke to Spectrum News on Wednesday about his plan moving forward. 

"For a police department to function at their peak, they need the support of the community. We're going to remove politics from the police department and we are going to get the support that the police department needs and deserves, because we've seen an uptick in violent crime," said Keeler.

Keeler also plans to make infrastructure and reopening the Cohoes Community Center a priority.