Thearse McCalmon this week declared victory in the Democratic Primary for New York state’s 49th Senate District seat against challenger Donovan McCrae. The seat is currently held by Republican James Tedisco, who has served in the state legislature for decades.
McCalmon, who lives in Schenectady, is an activist and educator who last year challenged Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, narrowly losing that primary.
Now looking ahead to the general election, McCalmon spoke to WAMC's Lucas Willard about campaigning during a very unusual year.
In a statement provided to WAMC, Tedisco said he will be running for re-election on his record and being a "strong voice" for the people of the district.
"Nothing illustrates that better than that over four separate redistrictings, and several elections, I have been overwhelmingly re-elected by the support of the most important voices in our representative democracy: the voters -- and I want to thank them for giving me that opportunity which I will never take for granted!" said Tedisco.