Republicans have held New York's 118th Assembly District for over a decade now. The large swath of land covers all of Hamilton and most of Herkimer counties — stretching down into the southern Adirondacks and Mohawk Valley in Fulton and Oneida counties.
Republican Robert Smullen has represented it since 2019. But after losing a primary bid in New York's 21st Congressional District to Anthony Consantino, Smullen decided not to run for reelection to the state Assembly.
That leaves the district up for grabs. Republican Heather Scribner will face Democrat Colleen Maxwell in the midterms.
Democratic candidate Colleen Maxwell
Maxwell said she has what it takes to beat Scribner in November.
"I've worked with numerous types of companies. I've been in the private sector for 40 years and I've had to work with manufacturers. I've worked with utility companies. I've worked with the Public Service Commission. I've had to deal with O-Rez. I have what they call boots-to-boardroom," Maxwell said.
Maxwell is a native of Newport, in the southern Adirondack foothills of Herkimer County, and currently chairs its town board. She has a background in accounting, legal work, and sustainability. If elected, her top priorities include regulating the environmental and economic impacts of data centers and solar farms. She’s also pushing for more local control of energy so revenue benefits host communities, lowering electricity bills.
"We're giving up a considerable amount of our land to help, but we produce enough for us; it’s the city that needs more of this power than we do, and now data centers and places like Micron. But the burden is being unfairly put up by us in rural New York State," Maxwell said.
"The main thrust would be to move the money, our tax dollars and all of the taxes that we're paying through our rates through our electric companies, to come back to the individual, the small businesses, the farms, the schools, so that we can get major discounts or, if not free solar projects over our schools, over our parking lots, on our houses, on our fields, on our farms, so that it instantly reduces our electric rates, so that we can get some relief," Maxwell said.
Maxwell also supports Medicare for all in New York State, and wants to ban public officials from signing non-disclosure agreements.
"If the other states can't get their act together and do this as a country, at least New York State should do this, because it will attract more businesses here and it will help New York State become more affordable if we can tackle this one big problem of the corporate profits from health insurance, drug companies and the administration cost of healthcare and reduce it to something that will become affordable and easy to manage and people get healthy," Maxwell said.
Republican candidate Heather Scribner
Scribner is also local to the district, from Gloversville. She’s running for Assembly because she believes New Yorkers need a strong conservative voice in Albany. She said she has the experience too.
“I was a town clerk. I worked in the New York State Senate. I had a little small gift shop. I raised three adult boys. And so I want them to stay here, and I think New York needs change, and I think one-party rule is not doing it for us," Scribner said.
High costs for groceries, gas, and utilities are hitting families hard across rural New York State. Scribner said tackling affordability is a main focus of her campaign.
“We have a huge affordability issue. People are concerned about their National Grid bills. We need to look into those; we need to fight National Grid in heavy, increased costs and that is a main priority," Scribner said.
Scribner criticized Governor Kathy Hochul for increasing the state budget by nearly 10% this year and advocates for stronger fiscal responsibility.
"It starts where we have to reduce our spending," she said. "You know, that's going to be a common-sense thing. We're going to have to dive into the budget day one, start looking at things that will decrease those spendings."
Scribner said the state isn’t doing enough to support law enforcement and also has concerns about its cashless bail law.
A debate?
Both candidates have run a fairly cordial campaign so far. But there's been at least one source of tension — the lack of a public debate. Maxwell criticized Scribner for not agreeing to one.
"She wouldn’t come to WENT and debate me," Maxwell said. "She doesn’t want to get involved; she knows who I am; she knows she won’t stand a chance."
Scribner said that’s not accurate and that she "doesn't know where Maxwell is getting her information from." She said she wasn't available for past requested times.
"We have something scheduled at the end of the month," Scribner said. "I think it’s the 27th that will be doing a forum-type debate. I don’t know if it’s a full debate; it’s just a forum that we’ll both be at and answering questions."
The event Scribner was referring to was a candidate forum in Whitesboro on Tuesday, outside of the district. Maxwell said she doesn’t count this as a debate.
"And so I think she feels that she's got to depend on the R before her name and staying low and staying quiet," Maxwell said. "She's never gotten nasty with me mostly because I think she's afraid I might get nasty back. And I told her I wouldn't, but she still avoids me like the plague."
North Country Public Radio asked both candidates how much their political party matters to them. Scribner said she’ll work for everyone if elected. But conservative values will be prioritized.
"You are a platform that you are less government, fiscal responsibility and that's what we stand for," Scribner said.
"And so in the 118th Assembly District, it does make up a lot of Republican voters. And these are the things that we are standing for."
Democratic candidate Colleen Maxwell said it “doesn’t make a difference" to her if somebody is Republican or Democrat — what matters is rural values and needs that unite both parties.