ALBANY — In a crowded political field, it takes bold ideas to get noticed.

And former Albany County Executive Jim Coyne knows a thing or two about getting noticed. Perhaps not coincidentally, he floated the boldest idea of the night Thursday as seven of the eight candidates — six Democrats and one Republican — vying to succeed Assemblyman Jack McEneny in the 109th Assembly District shared the stage at Albany Law School.

In response to the very first question about where the candidates believe the region will be in 10 years, Coyne — who was felled by a corruption scandal two decades ago — proposed amending the legislation governing the state Olympic Regional Development Authority to enable it to study a joint Olympic bid between Albany and Lake Placid, which he billed as a boon for business.

The idea was so radical that none of Coyne's rivals went anywhere near it, preferring instead the more conventional ground of tax relief and economic development as the Democrats in the race, Coyne included, sought to draw distinctions among themselves with their primary less than a week away.

Hard lines, however, seemed hard to come by.

Christopher Higgins, a lawyer and Democratic county legislator from Albany, argued his support for a statewide ban on the controversial gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, was one such line.

The rest of the field, though generally expressing skepticism of the technique's safety, largely hedged, saying they oppose it "currently" or "at this time" until state environmental regulators have completed their already voluminous studying of the matter.

"Let's make sure that the research is done," Democrat Margarita Perez said.

Frank Commisso Jr., a state auditor and Democratic councilman from the city's 15th Ward, said he favored leaving the choice up to individual counties.

Even Ted Danz, the founder of Family Danz Heating and Air Conditioning and the lone Republican on the stage, stopped short of endorsing the drilling technique. He pledged to take his cues from his constituents.

"If the people don't want fracking, I will go to the mat to fight it," said Danz, of Guilderland, who is in an Independence Party primary with Democrat Pat Fahy. Danz is the only candidate in the race not from the city of Albany. The heavily Democratic district spans parts of Albany and Bethlehem, New Scotland and Guilderland.

While all of the candidates condemned the alleged actions of Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who has been accused of sexual harassment, Commisso touted himself as the only Democrat in the race who has said he or she would not back Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for re-election to his leadership post in the wake of the scandal.

William McCarthy Jr., a Democrat and assistant attorney general, noted that Silver has brought "thousands of jobs" to the Albany area and said he deserves the presumption of innocence while allegations of a cover-up are investigated by a state ethics commission. But Danz scoffed at that idea. "Because he brings money to our area we should lower our standards?" Danz said.

The event was jointly sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Albany County, The Spotlight Newspapers, The Women's Law Caucus of Albany Law School, The Capital District Alliance for Universal Health Care and the Capital Area Council of Churches.

The only candidate not invited to participate was Conservative Party candidate Joseph Sullivan, who faces a write-in challenge from Danz on that party's line but no formal primary opponent.

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The primaries are Thursday. Polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. across the region.