(113th Assembly District Democratic candidate Carrie Woerner with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand)
It's increasingly looking like Saratoga County technology businesswoman Carrie Woerner (D - Malta/Round Lake) may very well become the first Democrat to represent most of the Upper Hudson Valley region in the New York State Assembly in 150 years. Woerner's campaign recently received the support of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who formerly represented this area in Congress before being appointed to the Senate, as well as the Glens Falls Post-Star, an influential paper in the northern portion of the district.
From the Glens Falls Post-Star, October 23, 2014:
"Carrie Woerner has a dream resume for a candidate for the state Legislature from the 113th Assembly District, which comprises northeastern Saratoga County and southwestern Washington County."
"She has worked for decades in the high-tech industry, for companies big (IBM) and small (Wall Street Transcript). She has six years of municipal government experience as a Round Lake village trustee. She worked for five years in the nonprofit sector as director of Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation."
"Her experience in the trenches of public service and public government, along with real world skills from the private sector, make her a nearly perfect fit for the 113th Assembly seat, and what she doesn’t know she has shown a willingness and ability to learn."
"Because of the growth of the GlobalFoundries computer chip manufacturing plant in Malta, which already employs nearly 3,000 workers, Woerner’s familiarity with high-tech industry is a valuable asset."
The Post-Star also debunked continued, false claims and distortions by Carrie Woerner's Republican opponent over her fiscal record while serving as a Round Lake Village Trustee.
"Round Lake has benefited from her business know-how and fiscal discipline over the past few years, as she has been a leader on its board in scrutinizing the village budget and cutting expenses."
"We find her self-characterization as a tax-cutter to be mostly true, despite protests from the campaign of opponent Steve Stallmer. Stallmer has played up the increase in the size of the Round Lake budget, but that results in great part from an increase in the money the village receives from the town of Malta for fire protection."
"The fire protection money passes through the village budget — it is paid by the town of Malta and is used for fire department expenses. It has no effect on local taxes. To make it a campaign issue, as Stallmer has done, is misleading at best."
"The tax rate in Round Lake has gone down over the past four years, and according to Woerner, the tax bill for the average homeowner has gone down, too."
"Because of changing property assessments, tax bills have probably not gone down for every village resident. But the critical point is this: Woerner has been part of a board that has kept taxes low year after year."
While the New York State Assembly has long been dominated by the Democratic Party and this race will have no outcome over control of the chamber, it is important that we work to elect more influential progressive leaders to public office in this region of the state, where the Republican Party has had a virtual monopoly on power and ideas for over a century.
You may click here to visit Carrie Woerner's website, which has links for those interested in either volunteering or donating to her campaign.