Three-way race in 102nd Assembly District to be decided Tuesday

102nd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT — Voters in the 102nd Assembly District special election on Tuesday will choose from among a conservative upstate Republican, a progressive Democrat and an independent.

There are major political differences among the three people running to fill a seat representing people in a district that stretches through the northern Catskills from Schoharie County to the mid-Hudson Valley.

Republican Christopher Tague, who is the Schoharie town supervisor and has the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform ballot lines, is competing with Democrat Aidan O’Connor Jr., who is a Greene County legislator, and independent candidate Wesley Laraway of Middleburgh.

The special election, one of 11 being held around the state on Tuesday, was called due to the resignation last September of Assemblyman Pete Lopez of Schoharie, who left to become regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The $79,500-salary seat has been vacant since then, which left residents without a representative during this year’s legislative session.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo set the date of the special elections in early February, and all three candidates emerged almost immediately.

Tague, 48, is a Schoharie native, and his father, Lawrence, was Schoharie County treasurer. A former dairy farmer, he is general manager of a Cobleskill sand and gravel company. During the campaign, he has laid out positions similar to those of many upstate Republicans, critical of an Albany power structure dominated by Democrats, and calling for taking stronger efforts to improve the state’s economy.

“What we need in Albany is someone who has the spine to stand up to the New York City machine and Assembly Democrats who are responsible for the highest taxes and near-worst business climate in the country,” Tague said after passage of the new state budget. “We need working-class values in Albany and those who understand that nothing is free and we work hard and embrace community first before asking taxpayers for a handout.”

Last week, Tague slammed Cuomo’s executive order granting voting rights to parolees, who have felony convictions but are out of state prison.

“Gov. Cuomo’s decision yesterday to give convicted murderers, rapists and the like conditional pardons is one of the most disgusting, disrespectful and tyrannical acts I have seen undertaken by an elected official in my entire life,” Tague wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Greene County Republican Chairman Brent Bogardus said the district has been hurt by not having a representative since last September, especially during budget negotiations. He supports Tague.

“I’ve known Chris for 20-plus years, and it starts with, he is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. Whatever he does, his heart is in it,” Bogardus said on Friday.

O’Connor, 29, is a professional paramedic from Durham who now works as regional business development manager for LifeNet, the medical helicopter service. He was elected to the Greene County Legislature in 2015, and is chairman of the county’s Public Health Committee.

By conventional wisdom, O’Connor faces long odds: The district enrollment leans Republican, the seat has been GOP-held for many years, and no Democrat even ran against Lopez since 2012.

In addition to all of Schoharie and Greene counties, the 102nd Assembly District includes Rensselaerville, Westerlo and Coeymans in Albany County, and parts of Otsego, Delaware, Ulster and Columbia counties. The Republican Party has an enrollment advantage, with 30,670 Republicans to 24,616 Democrats as of April 1, according to the state Board of Elections. There are also 22,848 voters unenrolled in a political party.

O’Connor has placed a major focus on the nationwide opioid crisis, and has called for government to move aggressively to address the problem. He has also called for improving rural health care access — a significant issue in a district that is almost entirely rural. He serves in the Greene County Legislature, and is chairman of its Public Health Committee.

“I will also support legislation to hold pharmaceutical companies financially responsible for this epidemic, and remove that cost from property owners’ tax expenses,” O’Connor said on his website. “In addition, I will fight to bring much-needed in-patient services to our district.”

In addition to having the support of the Democrats, O’Connor has the Working Families and Women’s Equality Party lines.

The men differ significantly on gun control, with Tague a staunch defender of gun rights and O’Connor saying he believes all guns should be registered, and the background check system for gun purchases should be stronger.

Both candidates have raised more than $40,000 to fund their runs, according to state Board of Elections financial filings.

Also in the race is Wesley Laraway of Middleburgh, who is running as the Best Choice candidate, although he is a registered Republican. With Tague serving as chairman of the county Republican Committee, Laraway said the party refused to consider him. As an independent, he said he expects to spend less than $5,000 on his run.

“What makes me distinctive is I am not a politician,” said Laraway, 49, who teaches at Middleburgh High School and also runs a large animal rescue farm in Middleburgh. “I have 35 years of community service, which makes me more than qualified for the position.”

Laraway is quick to call for change in Albany. “Priorities need to completedy change. We have to stop this nonsense of politics as usual. It has to stop,” he said. “Politicians continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars they don’t have as though they were printing money in the basement.”

“I’m going to win this,” Laraway said. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised.”

Polling places across the district will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 518-395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.

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