On two occasions earlier this year, I wrote about our state’s failed redistricting process and the resulting fair maps that were created by a neutral, court-appointed party. Those fair maps have created the 43rd Senate District, which encompasses Colonie, Green Island, Cohoes, Menands, and Watervliet, as well as all of Rensselaer County and a significant part of Washington County.
This district links of the Capital Region’s inner suburbs, including my home town of Colonie as well as East Greenbush and many other similar communities. The district is large in area with rural, suburban, and urban interests all represented. As an open Senate District, there is no incumbent, and in my view there is only one man who can do the job of representing this district — Assemblyman Jake Ashby.
Assemblyman Ashby has ably represented the 107th Assembly District since 2018, focusing on many local issues and cosponsoring legislation on a wide variety of topics, especially legislation supporting veterans. Ashby is a veteran himself, joining the U.S. Army after 9/11 and serving as a captain in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also an occupational therapist and small business owner, as well as a father of two.
Our Albany County communities specifically and New York state generally are in desperate need of leaders who are concerned with keeping our streets safe and our lives affordable. Like many of my neighbors, I am worried about the preponderance of illegal guns, rising crime rates, rising inflation, and rising cost of living.
The current leadership in the state Senate is not working to address any of these issues, and I believe it’s time for a change. Our current Senate and Assembly representatives are out of touch with the needs of the middle class families and small business owners that make up our communities, and unfortunately they are instead only interested in the “equity” agenda and political concerns of the Legislature’s New York City-oriented leadership.
Jake Ashby is the kind of leader who will be able to get things done in the Senate and look out for families across the parts of Albany County within the 43rd Senate District.
He meets all the criteria of what a successful legislator should be: as a small business owner, he knows the struggles that many businesses are facing between the poor economic climate and crushing state regulation; as a veteran, he truly understands the meaning of public service and sacrifice on behalf of the community; as a father and family man, he is concerned about the education and safety of his children and; as a multi-term assemblyman, he has all the tools necessary to “hit the ground running” in the Senate, introducing, cosponsoring, and voting on meaningful legislation that will benefit Albany County residents.
Jake Ashby has received the endorsement of many important people and organizations, such as the Police Benevolent Association of New York State and the National Federation of Independent Business, as well as important community leaders like our Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey and other local elected officials in our region.
I stand with them in proudly endorsing Jake Ashby for state Senate, and I look forward to having him be our representative in the Town of Colonie.
Sincerely,
Frank Mauriello
Minority leader
Albany County Legislature