HUDSON–The special election for the Assembly seat in the 103rd District has begun in earnest with the announcement late Wednesday, January 18, that Millbrook resident Didi Barrett will be the Democratic Party’s candidate for the position left vacant when Marcus Molinaro officially resigned late last month to take up his duties as the newly elected Dutchess County executive.
Ms. Barrett, who ran a vigorous but unsuccessful campaign against Republican state Senator Steve Saland (41st) in 2010, will face GOP candidate Rich Wager, also a Millbrook resident, in the March 20 special election. The term runs only until the end of this year. A new election for a full two-year term will be held this November.
The 103rd Assembly District takes in the city of Hudson and the towns of Ancram, Austerlitz, Canaan, Claverack, Copake, Ghent, Greenport, Hillsdale and Stockport in Columbia County and 12 Dutchess County towns, including Red Hook, Milan, Millerton and Pine Plains and most of the eastern side of that county stretching south to the Putnam County border.
Ms. Barrett is a member of the Millbrook Education Foundation and helped launch the Dutchess Girls Collaborative. She is currently a board member of the Anderson Center for Autism Foundation and the North East Dutchess Community Fund.
“I am committed to fighting for the people of Columbia and Dutchess Counties and to bringing the resources to our towns that will create good jobs, control taxes and bring relief from unfunded mandates,” Ms. Barrett said in the release.
The Poughkeepsie Journal reported recently that Mr. Wager is a former aide to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Journal said that he has not previously run for office. He was chosen over two other GOP candidates, one of them former Assemblyman Pat Manning.
In a release from the Columbia County Democratic Committee, county Chairwoman Cyndy Hall said Ms. Barrett would be “an effective voice for good jobs and economic development for the people of our district. She will work hard to help middle class families who are struggling during this difficult economy.”
The majority of the population in the 103rd Assembly District lives in Dutchess County, where registered Republicans have a plurality.
