George Amedore is hoping to move from the New York State Assembly with a bid for the newly created 46th Senate District, and he’s starting early to reach new voters.
Amedore, R-Rotterdam, on Tuesday, April 3, kicked off his Senate campaign with a “jobs tour” of area businesses throughout the new district consisting of Montgomery and Greene counties and suburban and rural areas of Schenectady, Albany and Ulster counties.
Amedore made stops in four out of the five counties he’s bidding to represent, with his Guilderland news conference at Amedore Homes offices advertised as the Capital District stop for Albany and Schenectady counties.
As a small businessman working in his family’s home building company, Amedore is sticking with a past campaign message of revitalizing the state’s economy and creating jobs
“Small business is the backbone of our economy and helping small businesses grow will create thousands of new jobs, reinvigorate our small towns and cities and make our communities stronger,” Amedore said in a statement. “I will be a strong advocate on behalf of job creators, working to tear down the barriers for creating jobs, namely, New York’s high taxes, overspending, red tape and a generally unhealthy economic climate for growing businesses and new jobs.”
Rural areas are facing high property taxes, Amedore said, and school districts are having to raise taxes while trying to stay under the state mandated tax cap. He said it is “not a very good environment” in the state and it needs to be improved for the private sector to grow. He also stressed unfunded mandate relief is needed.
Creating jobs in local communities is important, he said, so young adults can stay within their neighborhoods and the state.
Amedore said getting elected to the Senate and joining the majority party would allow him to better implement his goals and serve more people. The challenge for Amedore though, is spreading his message to many new faces.
“The challenge is going to be trying to be everywhere as I am now in a two-county area in a five-county area,” Amedore said.
Amedore’s 105th Assembly District consists of all of Montgomery County and areas of Schenectady County, including the towns of Rotterdam, Princetown and Duanesburg and a majority of the City of Schenectady. He has represented the Assembly district since 2007.
The new 46th Senate District includes all of those areas except it only holds a small portion of Schenectady. Moving south from Schenectady County, the district includes the more rural areas of Albany County, all of Greene County and northeastern areas in Ulster County. The district has a population of about 290,000 people.
“I am getting a lot of support and it is very encouraging to see,” Amedore said. “I know the people’s pain. I am a citizen legislator. I still own, operate and manage a small business.”
A few Democrats have announced interest in the seat, including Coeymans Town Board members Thomas Dolan, former Senate staffer Cecilia Tkaczyk and Hispanic Coalition President Monica Arias Miranda.
