Jonathan Gordon

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Aug 30, 2026, 3:42 PM

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Updated

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The race for New York Attorney General

The Republican candidate for the New York Attorney General race, Saritha Komatireddy, sat down with News 12's Rich Barrabi to discuss her campaign.

The former prosecutor and national security expert also served as Chief of Staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a 10,000-person global law enforcement agency.

She said her campaign is focused on enforcing the law by prosecuting crime, tackling homelessness and eliminating corruption and fraud.

Her opponent is the incumbent Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James.

News 12 offered James a sit-down interview as well and is waiting to hear back.

Dutchess County tackles Kratom

The Dutchess County Legislature recently passed a unanimous ban on the sale of synthetic Kratom in the county, but County Executive Sue Serino isn't satisfied.

The Republican said she's still pushing for a full Kratom ban until there's more information about the substance and its effects.

"My top priority is keeping our community safe and healthy, especially our children," she said. "We cannot wait until another life is lost. Protecting our community must always come first, and I am proud to take this important step to safeguard Dutchess County.”

Serino said the county will hold public hearings to understand the effects of Kratom better locally and then make decisions from there.

The state has implemented some restrictions on Kratom, but it has been mostly up to counties and other local municipalities to come up with their own plans on how to address the growing issue.

Hudson Valley headlines

We take a look at some of the week's biggest stories including the latest on mail-in voting, the Meta settlement and New York's crackdown on law enforcement-ICE partnerships.