Republican formally opens bid for state Senate seat
Republican Michael Martucci on Thursday formally launched his campaign for the Republican nomination in New York’s 42nd Senate District.
“I’ve been traveling throughout the district for the last few months meeting with friends and neighbors,” Martucci said in his launch announcement. “The common theme I am hearing is that people feel New York state is headed in the wrong direction and our current state senator is out of touch with the needs of the people of the 42nd Senate District, and this is why I have decided to run .... ”
The 42nd District currently is represented by Sen. Jen Metzger, D-Rosendale. She first was elected in 2018.
Martucci, 34, lives in New Hampton, a hamlet in the the Orange County town of Wawayanda. He is a part-time farmer and former owner of a school bus company.
Martucci’s statement said he will focus on families and will meet as many people as possible in the district over the next 10 months to learn more about their concerns and hopes for the future.
He took particular aim at the state’s new bail reform law, favored by Democrats during the state Legislature’s 2019 session. He called it “an awful new law that our local senator voted for.”
Metzger now is among several Senate Democrats co-sponsoring legislation to amend the law so judges have more discretion about which criminal suspects go to jail and which remain free while awaiting trial.
The 42nd Senate District comprises parts of Delaware, Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties. In Ulster County, it includes the towns of Rosendale, New Paltz, Gardiner, Shawangunk, Wawarsing and Denning.