TROY – Republican candidate Tom Reale’s return to active campaigning for mayor surprised city Republicans and Democrats Monday who had no clue he would reenter the race.

Reale bowed out of the contest three weeks ago under pressure from Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin and GOP operative Rich Crist. That decision left two candidates in the race: Mayor Patrick Madden, a Democrat also on the Working Families Party line, and Rodney Wiltshire, an enrolled Democrat running on the Green and Independence party lines.

Reale plans to announce his reentry into the race at a press conference scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning at Monument Square. Reale will also discuss the pressure tactics that led him to exit the race earlier this month.

"I owe the people of Troy a real choice. I'm getting back out there," Reale told the Times Union Monday.

Reale noted that while he suspended his campaign in early October he remains on the Republican and Conservative party lines on the ballot.

In his media alert, Reale said the purpose of the press conference was “(t)o resume the campaign for Mayor of Troy and to explain his rationale for re-entering the race. Reale will also speak to the pressure that was exerted on him by Rensselaer County GOP bosses for him to exit the race for Mayor.”

Reale suspended his campaign following a heated meeting with McLaughlin and Crist, the county’s operations director, who is considered to be among the most influential members of the GOP leadership, in early October at Republican headquarters.

McLaughlin and Crist did not respond to messages requesting comment about Reale’s decision to return to the campaign, even after early voting started Saturday and with the general election a week away, on Nov. 5.

Earlier: McLaughlin, GOP operatives pressure Reale to leave Troy mayor's race

The meeting where Reale says was pressured to leave the race also was attended by former Congressman John Sweeney and Jim Gordon, a former city councilman and Troy mayoral candidate who now works in McLaughlin’s administration as the county’s purchasing director. Neither Sweeney nor Gordon responded to a request for comment Monday.

Republican operatives said they had not received any advance notice of Reale’s return to the race and learned about it from the Times Union website. The party apparatus had turned to supporting Wiltshire in his campaign to unseat Madden.

“He was still on the ballot, regardless, and I don’t think this really makes a difference at all,” Wiltshire said about the election’s changing landscape.

“He never had a campaign and he certainly isn’t going to start one seven days before the election,” Wiltshire said.

Madden issued a statement saying, “(w)e will continue to deliver our message of progress on important issues to voters, and I remain committed to protecting taxpayers and addressing the needs of our residents.”

Wiltshire reached out for support from Republican voters after Reale suspended his campaign. While Wiltshire had campaigned in the 2016 mayoral election as a progressive voice, this time his election message is appealing for more conservative support and as an alternative to Madden’s administration. Republican workers had begun carrying his literature before Reale dropped out. Crist and Gordon attended a Wiltshire fundraiser that was held immediately after Reale left the campaign trail.

Democrats view Reale’s return as strengthening Madden’s re-election run as the Republicans appear splintered.

“Good for Tom. He’s obviously standing up to the backroom pressures of the leadership of the Republican party. Let’s see whether the Republican leadership will support Tom Reale, who is on the ballot, or Rodney Wiltshire,” said Troy Democratic Chairman Gary Galuski.

Troy Republican Chairman Mark Wojcik said he doesn’t anticipate Reale’s return impacting the mayoral election.

“Tom told me he was backing down due to family considerations. He hasn’t run much of a race at any point this year, which is why most of our people are looking to Rodney as an alternative to the current administration,” Wojcik said.

Reale originally wanted to run for the 3rd District City Council seat. However, the city Republican leadership convinced him to run for mayor in a city in which Democrats enjoy a 3-to-1 enrollment edge over Republicans. One operative predicted after Reale dropped out that he would still get 1,000 votes on the Republican and Conservative lines even though he wasn’t campaigning. Reale's fundraisers were lightly attended, and he was managing his campaign without support from Crist, who is relied on by Republicans across the county.

Some Republican voters have complained that they felt disenfranchised by Reale leaving the race earlier this month. Wojcik had said earlier that the city GOP committee was concentrating on winning control of the City Council.

Reale's return to the race will also see him re-entering the mayoral debates. Spectrum News said Monday that Reale will join Madden and Wiltshire at its Albany studios Wednesday for a debate that will be taped in the afternoon and air that night.