Local Assembly races feature changes

Oct. 20—Election day is about two weeks away and several towns in The Daily Star's coverage area are in different state Assembly districts than they were two years ago.

Assembly districts were redrawn earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled state legislature and approved by Gov. Kathy Hochul after an independent commission failed to present maps to the legislature.

The state Senate and Congressional districts were deemed unconstitutional in April by Steuben County Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister, and were redrawn by a special master. The primary was held in August for those seats. The Assembly districts were also deemed unconstitutional in May by McAllister, but he said it was too close to the primary vote to redraw the lines and allowed the lines to stand for this year's election. The lines will be redrawn for the 2024 election.

The 101st Assembly District, which is currently held by Brian Miller, has been redrawn, but is still shaped like a snake stretching from the town of Brookfield in Madison County to the town of Chester in Orange County. The district includes the towns of Edmeston, Pittsfield, Morris, Laurens and Otego in Otsego County and the towns of Franklin, Hamden and Andes in Delaware County.

Miller does not reside in the new district, so the district will be represented by a new person in January. Candidates for the 101st District are Matthew Mackey of Kerhonkson on the Democratic and Working Families lines and Brian Maher of Walden on the Republican and Conservative lines.

According to Mackey's campaign website, Mackey identifies as nonbinary and prefers the pronouns xe and xem, and if elected, would be the first nonbinary person to be elected to the state legislature.

Mackey is a native of Poughkeepsie and recently graduated from Adelphi University with a masters degree in social work, the website said.

According to the website, Mackey's goals are to make sure schools are equally funded and everyone has access to healthcare. For more information, visit matthewforchange.com.

According to Maher's biography on his election Facebook page, he was elected the Montgomery town supervisor in 2019. Before that, he served as executive director of the National Purple Heart Honor Mission, was an aide to state Senator Bill Larkin and served as mayor of the village of Walden from 2009-2015. He is also a Navy reservist.

Maher's website does not list his priorities. His website is votebrianmaher.com.

Miller of New Hartford, is running for the newly-drawn 122nd District on the Republican and Conservative lines. He is being challenged by Dan Buttermann of Oneonta, who is running on the Democratic line, and Colton Mennig of Cazenovia, who is running on the Working Families line.

The 122nd District encompasses the towns of Plainfield, Richfield, Exeter, Burlington, New Lisbon, Hartwick, Milford and Oneonta and the city of Oneonta in Otsego County and extends north and west into Herkimer, Oneida and Madison counties.

According to Miller's online biography, he was elected to the Assembly in 2018. Before he was elected to the Assembly, he was Bridgewater town supervisor and a representative for Oneida County for 16 years.

Miller's website said his goals are to cut wasteful spending, help local businesses, increase school funding and build up the state's infrastructure. For more information, visit www.brianmiller4assembly.com.

Buttermann has been a resident of Oneonta since 2011. He has been a board member of the Oneonta City School District and the Oneonta Town Planning Board, and serves on the boards of directors of Opportunities for Otsego and the Oneonta Concert Association. Buttermann is also a member of the NAACP, Farm Bureau, and is president of the Oneonta Rotary Club, according to a media release. Since 2017, Buttermann has led the team organizing TEDxOneonta, which brings TEDx talks to the community.

According to his campaign website, Butterman supports increased funding for education, help for farmers, expanding green energy and affordable housing. For more information, visit buttermannforassembly.com.

According to Mennig's website, he grew up in Morrisville in a working class family. He is a 2017 graduate of Le Moyne College and works as an educator. Some of the issues he supports includes eliminating the wage gap, increasing support for vocational education, expanding the farm-to-school pipeline and opposing raises for elected officials. For more information, visit mennigforassembly.com.

The new 102nd District includes all of Schoharie County, the Otsego County towns of Springfield, Otsego, Middlefield, Cherry Valley, Roseboon, Westford, Decatur, Maryland and Worcester, and the Delaware County towns of Davenport, Harpersfield, Kortright, Meredith, Delhi, Bovina, Stamford, Roxbury and Middletown. The district also extends into Albany, Greene and Ulster counties. Incumbent Christopher Tague is on the Republican and Conservative lines and is being challenged by town of Davenport resident Nicholas Chase on the Democratic line.

According to his online biography, Tague was first elected to the Assembly in 2018. He was also elected the Schoharie town supervisor in 2015. Tague graduated from Schoharie Central School in 1987 and was a dairy farmer for five years before selling his farm to work for Cobleskill Stone Products.

His goals include expanding broadband, helping end the heroin opioid epidemic and helping expand agriculture. For more information, visit tagueforassembly.com.

According to Chase's website, he grew up on a farm and graduated from Franklin Central School in 2018. He majored in political science from Hartwick College and teaches English at Schenevus Central School.

Chase's website said his main issues include agriculture, the economy in Upstate, education reform, energy and healthcare. For more information, visit chaseforassembly.com.

Assemblyman Joe Angelino, R-Norwich, is running unopposed for the new 121st District. The 121st District includes the Chenango County towns of Afton, Bainbridge, Columbus, Coventry, Greene, Guilford, McDonough, New Berlin, North Norwich, Norwich, Otselic, Oxford, Pharsalia, Plymouth, Preston, Sherburne, Smithville and Smyrna, the city of Norwich, the towns of Butternuts and Unadilla in Otsego County and the towns of Sidney, Masonville, Deposit, Tompkins, Walton, Hancock and Colchester in Delaware County.

Before running for the Assembly, Angelino served as police chief and fire chief for the city of Norwich. He is a U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, having served in the 1991 Gulf War and the Iraq War in 2003 and 2005, for which he received two Purple Heart medals, according to a media release. He retired in 2008 from the Marine Reserves as a sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank. For more information about Angelino, visit angelinoforassembly.com.

Three towns in Chenango County — German, Linklaen and Pitcher — are in the 131st District, which stretches west from Chenango County to the town of Canadaigua in Ontario County. Republican Jeff Gallahan is running unopposed. Prior to being elected to the Assembly, Gallahan was the Manchester Town Supervisor for 11 years and a member of the town council for four years. For more information about Gallahan, visit jeffgallahan.me.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.