GOP state lawmaker challenges Rep. Maloney
Republican state Assemblyman Colin Schmitt on Tuesday launched his bid for the House seat currently held by Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney.
Schmitt, R-New Windsor, announced his candidacy during a midday event at the Montgomery Village Hall after filing a notice of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission to run for the seat in New York’s 18th Congressional District in November 2022.
“Hudson Valley families need a strong voice in Washington who will protect taxpayers, create new jobs and stand up for our veterans and first responders,” Schmitt said in a prepared statement. “... The families who live and work in small towns and suburban communities across our district need a strong voice who will bring people together to protect and improve their quality of life. I will work every day to deliver real results for Hudson Valley families and defend our values.”
The 18th Congressional District includes all of Orange and Putnam counties, and parts of Dutchess and Westchester counties.
Maloney, D-Cold Spring, was elected to his fifth twoyear term in the House in November 2020 and is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He first won his seat in the 2012 election, defeating incumbent Republican Nan Hayworth.
Maloney recently reported having $1.2 million in his campaign account, including $650,000 raised in the first quarter of this year.
Schmitt is serving his second two-year term representing New York’s 99th Assembly District, which comprises nine towns in Orange County and one in Rockland County. He is a lifelong Hudson Valley resident and serves as a sergeant in the Army National Guard.
Orange County Democratic Chairman Brett Broge said Schmitt is “bad for the Hudson Valley and bad for New York’s 18th Congressional District” and that, on Jan. 6, the assemblyman “cheered on busloads of people driving down to Washington, D.C., to participate in a violent riot incited by former President Trump’s big lie that the election was stolen — the lie which Schmitt has still not denounced.”