An image of a mailer city residents received from Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s office before Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Sheehan is not running for reelection.

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, shown speaking during a recent news conference, avoided weighing in on the mayoral race until she quietly endorsed Auditor Dorcey Applyrs two weeks before the primary.

ALBANY — A strange piece of mail arrived at city homes a few days ago amid the deluge from mayoral candidates. It touted the accomplishments of Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

Sheehan? Is she running again? Nope. City Democrats will choose her replacement on Tuesday, ending a primary race in which the mayor has been a peripheral figure yet omnipresent.

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Until less than two weeks ago, when she quietly endorsed City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, Sheehan had stayed away from the mayor’s race, for an obvious reason: As she nears the end of her third term, Sheehan is more liability than asset.

The theme of the race, after all, is that Albany is broken and needs fixing. All four candidates promise to address public safety, downtown’s decline and economic stagnation. Nobody wants to be considered a continuation candidate, which explains why the mayor is almost entirely missing from all the mailings.........

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