The Republican incumbent in New York’s northern-most state Assembly district has a Democratic challenger for her seat.
New York’s 115th Assembly district is represented by Republican Janet Duprey. She was first elected to the Assembly in 2006 when it was the 114th district and she retained the seat after redistricting.
The incumbent is being challenged by the current chair of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors, Democrat D. Billy Jones. He announced the launch of his campaign on Tuesday, saying it’s time to move up to the state level. “I took public office in 2009 but I’ve been working on certain issues and behind the scenes longer than that.. This is the sixth year on the county legislature. I’ve been the chairman for the past four years. I’ve worked all across the region on economic issues. I’m a member of the North Country Economic Development Council. I’ve worked on many social issues and health and human services issues across the region. I do feel I have the experience and I feel that I can take the concerns of our constituents and be a strong voice in Albany.”
Jones outlined his five priority issues: jobs, infrastructure improvement, broadband access, education and veterans’ services. “They’re the concerns of the region. They’re all important. There are many more issues that face the North Country also. But regardless I think that I have shown that I can work with the Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Liberals, Conservatives, I have worked with people throughout my career and my life to get the job done.”
While she’s not actively campaigning yet, Duprey says she is seeking re-election. “It’s a busy time but I’m planning to run a vigorous campaign. I will be running I just, um, my calendar is absolutely jammed full with commitments which I will be honoring. So until session is done I won’t be vigorously running until my calendar opens up a little bit.”
Duprey notes that the priorities outlined by Jones mirror her priorities. In past campaigns for her Assembly seat, she has faced contentious and rancorous opponents. But she says she has a cordial relationship with Jones. “Billy Jones and I work very well together. We have since he went into office. I think we both respect each other. We both understand I’m sure, I guess I shouldn’t speak for him but I’ll take the liberty of doing that, I think that I can say that we both agree, will agree, that we need to continue to work together on issues that affect our constituents. I don’t take this personally. I expect that the campaign will be respectful. You know the nastiness that I have faced in three primaries over the last three elections. I don’t expect any of that.”
Jones agrees. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Janet. We’ve worked together on many issues that have concerned the region. I’m going to run a strong, positive campaign that are going to put the issues and the people’s concerns at the forefront.”
The 115th Assembly district comprises all of Clinton and Franklin counties plus four towns in St. Lawrence County.
