TROY — It's been awhile since I could write about the craziness of Troy's politics. Things have been, by the standards of the city, almost dull in recent years.

But the old #troycrazy has come roaring back. As you may have read, Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin got together with GOP operative Rich Crist and former mayoral candidate Jim Gordon to shove Tom Reale out of the mayor's race a month before the election.

Who is Tom Reale? Well, the 37-year-old is hardly a well-known political name, even in Troy. Nevertheless, he was the Republican candidate for mayor until McLaughlin & Co. got rough with him on Monday, screaming at the poor guy and allegedly threatening his job in the state Senate.

Now wait, you say. Why would McLaughlin, a Republican, want to push a fellow member of the party out of the race, leaving voters without a GOP candidate? That's where the craziness comes in. McLaughlin & Co. have thrown their weight behind Rodney Wiltshire, the former city council president and a registered Democrat.

Those of you who can remember back to 2015 may recall that Wiltshire ran for mayor that year as a progressive insurgent — a Bill de Blasio for Troy, if you will. But Wiltshire has moved rightward in the years since, though he still ran for the Working Families Party's mayoral nomination this year.

Wiltshire lost that nomination to Mayor Patrick Madden by three votes. He lost the Democratic primary to Madden, too. But he is on the fall ballot representing the Green and Independence parties.

And now, proving the maxim about politics producing strange bedfellows, he's McLaughlin's guy, too. Well, OK.

Reale, a nice guy and a military veteran who gamely agreed to run for mayor, deserved better, and it may take him awhile to get that shiv out of his back. As one Troy operative put it, "He got into the water with alligators, and he's not that kind of fighter."

Voters in Troy deserved better, too. They shouldn't have to choose between two Democrats — an election that replays the Democratic primary.

But McLaughlin & Co. are betting that making Wiltshire the mayor's only opponent will consolidate the anti-Madden vote, which likely grew Thursday when Madden announced a tax increase. A month before the election?! Does he even want to win?

History suggests McLaughlin's scheme isn't totally crazy: Four years ago, Madden received just 41 percent of the vote, far less than the combined total received by Wiltshire, on the ballot for the Working Families Party, and Gordon. But there are problems with the plan.

Problem #1: Reale remains on next month's ballot, which means he'll still get Republican votes. Actually, now that McLaughlin — the Toxic Tweeter — has jabbed him, Reale may also receive votes from the considerable number of people, including many Republicans, who loathe the county executive.

Problem #2: What, exactly, is Wiltshire's constituency at this point? His old progressive base won't touch a guy perceived as a McLaughlin stooge, while Republican and conservative voters may struggle to muster up enthusiasm for a guy who remains a registered Democrat. Am I wrong?

Yes, says Wiltshire. "I don't think party line has any significance," he told me Friday, noting that he and Reale had nearly identical platforms. "I don't believe Republican or Democrat makes a difference when it comes to how the roads are paved or the streets are cleaned."

There's truth in that. But Wiltshire's take certainly runs counter to the hyper-partisan nature of the moment, and it certainly isn't reflected on McLaughlin's Twitter account, where Democrats are routinely called lying, deceitful, incompetent, etc. Interestingly, McLaughlin has never tweeted about Wiltshire.

Indeed, the perception around Troy is that Wiltshire has long been McLaughlin and Crist's guy, which helps to explain the GOP's blatantly tepid support for Reale in recent months. I asked Wiltshire why McLaughlin & Co. would prefer him to an actual, you know, Republican.

"I have no idea," he said. "I don't know what goes on internally with the Republican Party."

Wiltshire said he is not in contact with McLaughlin or Crist, but acknowledged he meets regularly with Gordon, who is a member of McLaughlin's administration. Wiltshire insisted, though, that his independence remains intact.

"I've never been anyone's puppet," Wiltshire said. "I'm not about to start now."

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Wiltshire and I spoke on the phone, so I can't say if his hands and mouth were attached to strings.

Nevertheless, if this gambit somehow works and Wiltshire wins, there can be no doubt that he owes his victory to the strong-arming tactics used against Reale. To put it another way, Wiltshire would be the ... wait for it ... Trojan Horse used to give McLaughlin & Co. access to City Hall.

And that would be truly crazy.

cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5442 • @chris_churchill