The St. Lawrence County Democratic Committee has endorsed Renee Cole as the party’s candidate to become the next St. Lawrence County treasurer.

Cole, a county deputy treasurer, has been running the Treasurer’s Office since the resignation of former County Treasurer Kevin Felt, who left in January to take a job in South Carolina.

She announced her intention to run several weeks after former deputy treasurer Robert Santamoor, a Republican who left the Tresurer's office in a disagreement with Felt in April 2014, announced his intention to run for the position, and several weeks before accountant David VanHouse of Ogdensburg said he, too, intended to seek the nomination, possibly forcing a primary between him and Santamoor.

Cole announced in May her intention to run for county treasurer as a Democrat. See story here.

Cole has extensive experience in managing municipal budgets and has served two of the county’s largest departments, as the assistant highway administration manager at the Highway Department and as fiscal manager in the Department of Social Services before joining the Treasurer’s Office as a deputy.

St. Lawrence County Democratic Committee Chairman Mark Bellardini said that “of the candidates running for County Treasurer, Renee has, by far, the most direct experience in managing municipal budgets. Perhaps more important, Renee has the integrity that our taxpayers deserve in order to run that department properly and without bias,” Bellardini said.

“I was pleased to have such strong support from almost 40 colleagues and friends during the St. Lawrence County Dairy Parade,” in Canton on June 4, Cole said.

Bellardini said in his experience, support of that scale this early in an election is rare. “As a candidate, you just don’t get that many of your own supporters to come out to a parade like that. Renee Cole will be our next County Treasurer,” he said.

When asked why she was pursuing the office, Cole said, “It’s simple, I want my neighbors, those that I have met and those that I have yet to meet, to feel secure in knowing that their tax dollars are being accounted for correctly. I intend to restore people’s confidence that their money is being managed properly.”