Power & Politics: 2026 New York state legislative session preview

Property taxes will rise for Mount Vernon residents 

Power & Politics: Orangetown preservation, Blakeman for governor, Westchester budget & NY shooting stats

Justice Department again fails to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, AP source says

Power & Politics: 1-on-1 with NAACP Mid-Hudson Regional Director Wilbur Aldridge

Power & Politics: 1-on-1 with Rep. Elise Stefanik on NY governor bid

hudsonvalley

Jonathan Gordon

WCHVPP623B_2024-06-23-12-16-05

Welcome back to power and politics. We are continuing our special coverage of the vote 2024 ahead of Tuesday's primary election. We've covered the two biggest races right here in the Hudson Valley so far. But we want to pivot to some of the state level races because those impact people are just as much as the big ones we want to hear from some of the candidates. There. There is first a democratic primary for New York's 92nd assembly district between incumbent Assembly woman, Mary Jane Shimky and Tom Ainan. This is a rematch of the race from 2022 where Shinsky defeated then six term Assemblyman Ainan by about 900 votes. The biggest issue in this race is the future of Edgemont and its efforts to incorporate into its own village. Both candidates oppose those efforts over concerns. The town of Greenberg will lose a substantial part of its tax base. We heard from both candidates. My view is that I work to pass bills and I have passed more bills in my first term than Tom passed in his first term. But what is important when we're dealing with the serious issues of the day is that we are all able to work together as a legislative body to get things done. As I tell people, legislator, if done, right is the most co-operative job there is. And I've been able to work cooperatively with key members to get major legislation done. I know the people who live in this district very well. I've represented them in various capacities for several years and I've demonstrated that I can be trusted to represent their interests and only their interests. I've never been interested in my own political future or having relationships with the Democratic Party. Um I represent the people of this district and I've always done what I thought the people of this district would do if they were sitting in the assembly in the chair that I was sitting in in Rockland County, former Spring Valley Village trustee Hudson Tyson Francois and Rockland County legislator Aaron Weeder will face off in the democratic primary election for the 97th state assembly district. The biggest issue for this seat is the future of the East Ramapo Central school district which have been mired with financial issues. Both candidates weighed in on this race. We need a voice. We need someone who's willing to go to the highways and byways to fight. I'm a fighter and, uh, I believe when you, we chose to be here in front of Spring Valley High School as a former grad of East Rample Central school district. I want to go and fight to bring back funding for our school district. We want to make sure that if we're going to do anything, we would love to see that New York State is able to get its uh financial issues resolved for East Ral central school district by taking over the school district, which would be a great thing for our students. And again, if you really think about here in Spring Valley, the price of living has gone up, affordable housing is tremendously, has gone up. Rent control is out of control. So we wanna be able to take care of some of these things. And then when you're talking about, of course, women's right in orange town or let's say the entire county, these are issues that we wanna fight for. Um you know, gun control, gun violence. These are issues safeties in Rockland County. These are issues that we wanna target. I'm running for the assembly because I see a need in Albany for people in Rockland County. They have not been represented in Albany adequately. Uh Currently, um there are so many issues that needs to be addressed and you need a seat at the table because if you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu. Infrastructure is a major thing. Uh We need to bring back resources from Albany to all the towns and villages in the 97th assembly district. Uh There are too many issues that have gone unanswered. Uh be it on uh from school boards, villages, towns, they simply don't have a door in Albany to knock on and someone would open that door. And those are the things that I would like to address, um that desperately needs representation and all. But that currently doesn't have. The next race is for a vacant state assembly seat in the 1/100 district. Long time assemblywoman Eileen Gunther announced her retirement at the end of this year. The district is mostly Sullivan County, but it also includes the towns of Middletown and the surrounding areas in Orange County. Town of Wallkill. Public works commissioner Louis in Grasa junior is running against a member of the Republican state Senator Peter Oberer office camille o'brien o'brien will be the conservative candidate in November up in Ulster County as well as parts of Rhinebeck and Red Hook. And Duchess is a closely watched democratic primary for the 103rd assembly district seeking her second term in office. Incumbent state assemblywoman Sarhan SREs is facing a primary from a more moderate opponent in first time candidate, Gabby Maddens has already secured the Working Families Party nomination for the general election in November. We spoke with both candidates earlier in their campaigns. There are some people who are just going to think it's a fluke and they can get the seat back, but this is the wrong district for that. This is a very progressive forward thinking district. And that's why I ran um in it to begin with. Um So I'm pretty confident that nobody is um excited to go back to a candidate who says she is going to take corporate money. She sees corporations as uh partners and she has said she wants to protect a suburban way of life from progressive policies of Albany and New York City. But what she's leaving out is what about the progressive policies of the Hudson Valley? Because those also exist, I recognize the importance in getting results to my constituency. Um So with that being said, you know, there's been an absent in those results, being delivered back home. And so that's really where I came, you know, and and stepped up and said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go for this seat because I know that I have the skill set uh and the tools and the knowledge of government operations and legislative bill drafting um to do this job, the way it's supposed to be done and make sure that we're providing the absolute best for our constituents, the highest level of representation, delivering real results, right? Not just not just rhetoric, that's been kind of my motto lately. And in another battle between moderates and progressive Democrats, incumbent Assemblywoman Dei Barrett is fighting off a primary run from the left from Claire cousin who has the backing of the working Families, party and Tenants Rights groups. The 106 6th district represents parts of Duchess Barrett has represented the district since 2012 and his champion LGBT Q plus and reproductive rights. Cousin is running on housing and environmental issues. Cousin hopes to duplicate Ssa's 2022 primary win after the break, we're gonna take a look at some of the third party races on the ballot. We'll be right back.

https://vod.prod.alticeustech.com/transcode/6697f220-13fe-45fd-bd5a-c9a9c0d70a1f/6697f220-13fe-45fd-bd5a-c9a9c0d70a1f.transcribe

WCHVPP623C_2024-06-23-12-16-26

Welcome back to power and politics. We have just a few minutes left in our special Power and Politics show where we're taking a look at the biggest races on the primary ballots across the Hudson Valley. We've covered the races that stretch from the US Capitol in DC to the courthouse to the State House in Albany. Let's wrap up with a few third party races that we have our eyes on despite locking up the Democratic line heading into November in the race for New York's 17th congressional district. Monda Jones faces a challenger for the Working Families party line on Tuesday, Anthony Frascone s name will be on the ballot. Jones has recently had a falling out with the Working Families Party mostly over his support for Israel and and endorsement of Westchester County executive George latimer over Congressman Jamal Bowman, Elijah Reichlin Melnick has also locked up the Democratic line for November in his rematch against Republican state Senator Bill Weber in the race for New York's 38th state Senate district. But on the working Families line, Barbara Francis has also qualified. There is a conservative line primary for New York's 42nd state Senate district Dory Hole who has the Republican line in November is facing a challenge from Timothy Mitz Monroe town Councilwoman who ran for this seat two years ago and narrowly lost by less than 1500 votes in that general election. But uh she's now running to bring common sense back to Albany Mitz also from Monroe said his campaign opposes special interests, political abuse of power and small government. Finally, there's another conservative line battle between incumbent state assemblyman John mcgowan and challenger Thomas Sullivan in the 97th district mcgowan is already the Republican nominee in November and is focused on public safety, supporting law enforcement and making New York more affordable. A military veteran Sullivan is running to repeal New York's cash bail laws, lower property taxes and offer more parental choice in schools news 12. Of course, we'll have full coverage of primary day on Tuesday, June 25th. We'll have election coverage throughout our day and all our newscasts and our special coverage with our full team of reporters will begin at nine o'clock once the polls close, bring you the results reactions and updates that you won't find anywhere else. Once again, I'm Jonathan Gordon and this is power and politics on News 12 where local elections lead to national change. Of course, don't forget to vote more news, weather and your hyper local headlines coming up after the break.

https://vod.prod.alticeustech.com/transcode/9290d69c-fdb1-4111-b5b3-512dfdf5413d/9290d69c-fdb1-4111-b5b3-512dfdf5413d.transcribe

A look at all the races affecting residents in the Mid-Hudson region. 

Local News

Crime

Weather

beWell

The East End

Crime Files

Hot Holiday Toys 2025

Local News

Crime

Weather

beWell

The East End

Crime Files

Hot Holiday Toys 2025

Main

News

Sections

Choose Your Region

Be the first to know

Main

News

Sections

Change

Be the first to know

More Stories

More from News 12

Power & Politics: 2026 New York state legislative session preview

President Trump endorses Bruce Blakeman for governor of New York

Rep. Elise Stefanik suspends bid for NY governor, won’t run for reelection to Congress

Property taxes will rise for Mount Vernon residents

Trump in White House speech says US economy is strengthening, despite weaker hiring and inflation

Mayor pushes back after Saturday Night Live calls Yonkers “a village”

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Ad Choices

Privacy Manager