Jacobson faces challenger in 104th Assembly District race
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The race for the 104th Assembly District pits a first-term Democrat against a project manager for a technology company.
Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, D- City of Newburgh, is squaring off against Republican Andrew Gauzza IV of Beacon.
The 104th Assembly District includes the city and town of Newburgh in Orange County, the cities of Poughkeepsie and Beacon in Dutchess County and the towns of Marlborough and Lloyd in Ulster County.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting starts on Oct.
24.
Jonathan Jacobson
Jacobson was elected to the state Assembly in November 2018. Besides the Democratic line, Jacobson is running under the Working Families and Independence party banners.
Before his election, Jacobson served as an Assis
tant state Attorney General, where he headed the Consumer Fraud Bureau at the Poughkeepsie Regional Office. He was later appointed as an Assistant Counsel to the Speaker of the Assembly and was as
signed to the Labor Committee where he researched and wrote legislation. Later on, Jacobson served as a New York State Workers’ Compensation Law Judge.
In 2017, he was elected a member of the Newburgh City Council where he championed infrastructure repair and code enforcement.
Jacobson started his own law firm and was a practicing attorney focused on representing workers in Work
ers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability cases.
Jacobson is a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy. He earned degrees from Duke University and New York Law School.
Issues are:
• Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: Jacobson said he has co-sponsored favored legislation that adds $100 million in short-term rental assistance to renters and landlords; prevents landlords from evicting tenants due to unpaid rent; prevents utility companies from terminating services for New Yorkers who are
unable to work or have had their wages reduced; and requires mortgage lenders to provide a six-month forbearance period to homeowners that have lost income. authorizes localities to defer tax payments or create installment payments.
• Voting reform: Jacobson said voting should be simple and easy. “In pursuit of that goal, I supported sweeping voting reforms in 2019. New York now has nine early voting days, including two full weekends, prior to Election Day and all primaries,” Jacobson said. “To minimize voter
confusion and save taxpayers money, State and federal primaries have been consolidated and will now be held on the same day in June.”
• Gun laws: Jacobson says that he co-sponsored a package of commonsense gun safety legislation that became law in 2019. The Red Flag “Extreme Risk Protection Orders “law enables family members, law enforcement, or school officials who believe someone is likely to harm themselves or others to seek a court order requiring that person to relinquish their firearms and preventing them from buying new ones.
Andrew Gauzza IV
Gauzza, who has lived in Beacon for 18 years, also holds the Conservative line on the ballot.
He earned a political science degree from Manhattan College. Gauzza is a project manager with Data in Science Technologies. Issues are:
• Bail Reform: Repeal bail reform and explore options for criminal justice reform which keep our streets safe and allow our law enforcement to do their jobs effectively.
• Tax Reform: Cut taxes across the board to allow for
a speedy economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. “Specifically, I would like to propose a property tax cap at the state level, as well as eliminating the commuter tax and the MTA tax,” Gauzza said.
• Focusing on Localities: “I want to ensure that each municipality in my district receives the attention it deserves at the state level,” Gauzza said. “I want to deliver for our cities and towns to ensure that they receive their fair share of funding for basic services, so that they can continue to operate to their fullest potential.”