Current 112th District Assemblyman Roy McDonald (R-Saratogas) has won his party’s endorsement in the contest for the 43rd State Senate seat over his opponent, Town of Nassau Councilman Ray Seney (R-Nassau).
McDonald captured the nomination handily, with 8,779 votes, or 85 percent of the total. Seney took in the other 1,507 votes in the Tuesday, Sept. 9 primary.
The 43rd covers Rensselaer County and much of Saratoga County, including Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Saratoga Springs, Malta and Milton. There are more registered Republicans than Democrats, but not by leaps and bounds; Republicans number over 77,000 while there are nearly 59,000 Democrats. There are over 11,500 registered independent voters.
McDonald, who was endorsed by outgoing Senator Joseph Bruno (R-Glens Falls), thanked his supporters from Trader Ed’s bar in Troy, where he pledged to continue the retiring legislator’s work.
Joe Bruno never forgot the region and never forgot upstate New York, said McDonald. He pledged to find ways to keep jobs in the region as well as create viable careers for graduating students.
McDonald said his campaign’s priority moving forward will be lowering property taxes, saying, `The residents of this state and this area cannot handle it any longer.`
Also on assemblyman’s agenda will be `human issues` such as health care, providing for those with disabilities, education and taking care of our veterans.
He acknowledged that his campaign still has a long way to go before securing a spot in the Senate. `This is going to be a long road and a good road,` said McDonald.
In the Democratic primary, former Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Greenport) staffer Mike Russo took the party’s nomination with two thirds of the vote: 5,484 cast. Attorney Brian Premo took in 2,729 votes.“