Democrat Smythe launching Senate campaign March 7
Red Hook resident Karen Smythe will launch her campaign for state Senate in the 41st District with a kickoff event March 7.
Smythe, 56, executive director of the nonprofit Beatrix Farrand Garden Association in Hyde Park, announced Monday she is seeking the Democratic nomination to take on Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park.
Smythe and Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner, of Clinton, both are seeking the Democrat nomination in the district, which includes most of Dutchess County part of Putnam County.
In an interview Thursday, Smythe said she is running for the seat “because I just find the government is not working the way it’s supposed to.”
“I think I bring a fresh approach,” she said. “I have run a business here in the county, I have raised children in this county.
“I have not been involved in politics, but I have been very involved in the community,” she said.
A lifelong Democrat who lives in village of Red Hook, Smythe formerly was president of CB Strain, a family-owned mechanical contracting business that since has been sold.
Smythe said the state needs to focus on attracting better-paying jobs for middle-class working families and providing health care to all state residents “so people don’t have to worry about whether or not they can take their kids to the doctor.”
She also said the state needs to focus more resources on environmental protection efforts and look at what it can do to reduce the impacts of climate change.
She additionally said she would work to secure greater state aid for school districts.
Smythe said she would offer an alternative to Serino, who she said has a 93 percent rating from the National Rifle Association and “votes in lockstep with her party.”
Smythe said she supports women’s reproductive rights, unlike Serino, who opposes abortion rights.
Dutchess County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Elisa Sumner has come out in support of Smythe, calling her “exactly who we need” in the state Senate.
Smythe said she has also met with Democratic leaders from the Putnam County towns in the district, however they haven’t announced who they will back.
Smythe’s campaign kickoff event is planned for 5:30 p.m. March 7 at Paula’s Public House on county Route 376 in Poughkeepsie.
The 41st Senate District comprises all of Dutchess County, except the towns of Pawling and Beekman; and the Putnam County towns of Kent, Philipstown and Putnam Valley.