Albany Common Council Majority Leader Ginnie Farrell is among the many Democrats running for the 109th district New York State Assembly seat.
Farrell hopes to succeed Pat Fahy, who is now running to replace 14-term Senator Neil Breslin, a fellow Democrat, in the 46th District. Farrell is in her second term. Her political backstory is similar to Fahy's. Both cut their political teeth serving on the city Board of Education, and both served as president of the board. "...that then led to working to build a new high school I chose I was up for election that year, I chose instead to focus on bringing the high school to the forefront, which then kind of brought me to council, where I represent the 13th Ward and was elected by my peers on leadership to be majority leader," Farrell said. "I also work for the Assembly. I started working for Pat , I was very involved in her election and worked with her for four years and now switched over to working with Assemblymember Deborah Glick. First with the Higher Education Committee and now with the Environmental Conservation Committee.”
Farrell says she is passionate about many of the issues Fahy has championed over the last decade.
“I think that there's a lot of different pieces, especially having worked for her," said Farrell. "There are absolutely things that I would like to continue on that I've been involved with, including 787. I think that that is incredibly important. I appreciate her leadership on that. And I've been involved with several different groups on that. Also Wadsworth lab, I've been involved with, because that is something that will be impacting my current ward. That's something that would be on the other side of Brevator [Street]. So it's a constant part of our communication. Even the Science Museum, looking to bring that here. I think that's also incredibly important. But I think that there's opportunities beyond that, obviously, the Saint Rose conversation is very important. I think that it's also something that we need to look at, opportunities throughout the district to see what really does best serve each of the communities of Albany, Guilderland, and the town of New Scotland.”
Farrell says she sees the crowded race for the 109th seat as an opportunity to continue to build and empower "community" on a larger scale. “And I think that between the Assembly and the elected office, I have incredible experience to really hit the ground running in this position," Farrell said. "And I also think that a big field is ultimately a good thing. I mean, if you care about civics and you care about people voting, which I do, I'm very passionate about that, then a big race involves people more and it gets more people engaged in the process, and it gets more people out to vote. So I think it's a good thing. I welcome people in the race. And I think it's great that my colleagues are running on the council. I think it's great that there's county legislators that are running, and I look forward to seeing people on the campaign trail.”
The Democratic primary is June 25th.
Other candidates in the field include fellow-councilors Gabriella Romero of the 6th Ward, Sergio Adams of the 7th, Jack Flynn of the 8th and Owusu Anane of the 10th. Two Albany County Legislators are also running: Andrew Joyce of the 9th and Dustin Reidy of the 30th. Republican candidate Alicia Purdy has also filed to run. Democratic County Legislator Sam Fein suspended his brief campaign last week.
