Governor Kathy Hochul has signed new Congressional and state district lines approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature after the redistricting committee deadlocked. In the new 46th state Senate district, two Democratic candidates have emerged so far.
Republican state Senator Daphne Jordan of the current 43rd district lives in the Saratoga County Town of Halfmoon, which will be part of the new 46th. Jordan says New York voters who sought a fair redistricting process are not getting what they wanted in 2022. Nevertheless, Jordan says she plans to seek re-election in the new district:
"While I am going to be picking up new areas, I will represent them just as I represent the towns that I already have," said Jordan.
Two Democrats declared their candidacies on Friday: former Rensselaer County Executive candidate Andrea Smyth-Massaroni says she has established an exploratory committee, and Schenectady County District 3 Legislator Michelle Ostrelich, representing Niskayuna, Scotia and Glenville, has been endorsed by the Schenectady County Democratic Committee.
Here’s Ostrelich:
"It's a great district. This is exactly the northern part of Capital Region, that we think of ourselves as one big community," said Ostrelich. "And it's three cities, with the suburbs, all interconnected. And I looked at it, I'd already campaigned in about half of this district already, familiar with the people and similarities of the cities and suburb issues. So I, I couldn't say no."
Smyth-Massaroni finds the most interesting aspect of the new district is that it "takes pieces from the sitting senators."
"It gives the opportunity to figure out who the strongest person to represent that new community should be," said Smyth-Massaroni. "I think that my long career in healthcare advocacy is certainly relevant to moving these communities past COVID. Most importantly, my career is characterized by seeking and including the voices of those who are not traditionally heard. So to be specific, in the wake of a children's national mental health emergency, I've aligned the needs of the family and the children in my advocacy for more children's mental health services, not just the needs of the providers."
The new 46th includes Ballston, Clifton Park, Greenfield, Malta, Milton, Waterford, Schenectady, Troy, Niskayuna, Saratoga Springs and portions of the city of Mechanicville. The district would favor Democrats Smyth-Massaroni and Ostrelich, according to the Center for Urban Research at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Ostrelich says healthcare is the most pressing issue.
"The struggles that people have had accessing health care have had to do with coverage and just the very broken system that we have for health care whether you have insurance, or not," Ostrelich said. "The post pandemic world that we're moving into, we're so much more aware of the inequities in access. I have been one of the founding members of Schenectady's Coalition for Healthcare Access that's watching the merger with Ellis Hospital and Trinity health local affiliate St. Peter’s. And one of the issues that we've been watching the most is how much cuts in health care will affect those who already faced barriers accessing health care."
Smyth-Massaroni says the 46th is most challenged by housing and the economy.
"We have two big corporations, one in Rensselaer County that's not relevant to Troy, but Regeneron and GlobalFoundries in Saratoga County," said Smyth-Massaroni. "And what's happening is those high-paying jobs, which are so important as an economic driver, are driving up the housing costs without an equivalent increasing of housing stock. And so we are, you know, creating problems for the workforce crisis by not being able to adequately house the employees that we need to recruit for the businesses, for the care economy, for the childcare economy, teachers, firefighters, you know, the working class jobs that need to support a community, and so that I see as one of the main challenges in this district."
Primary day is June 28.
UPDATE:
On Tuesday, another Democratic candidate joined the field: longtime Schenectady candidate Thearse McCalmon, who has run for mayor, city counciland state Senate.
