Marchione will not seek re-election
HALFMOON, N.Y. » Republican State Sen. Kathleen Marchione announced Wednesday that she is not seeking re- election.
Citing Scripture and her role as the primary caregiver for her mother, Marchione, R-Halfmoon, said the move was the right thing to do for her family. She added that she wants to spend more time with her four grandchildren also.
“After a great deal of careful consideration, reflection, discussion with my family and prayer, I have decided to not seek re- election this fall to another term as State Senator serving and representing the 43rd District,” she said in a statement.
Stepping away at the conclusion of her twoyear term, she said, was the right time.
Marchione represents the 43rd Senate District, which includes parts of Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington counties and all of Columbia County. The district includes much of Saratoga Springs, and a portion of Troy. The 43rd Senate District has 67,676 enrolled Republicans, 62,339 enrolled Democrats, and 15,202 enrolled members of the Independence Party.
Marchione, 63, said she began her political career at 25 when she successfully ran for Halfmoon Town Clerk. From that position she successfully ran for town supervisor and in 1997 left that post to successfully win multiple elections as Saratoga County Clerk.
A conservative, Marchione was the first county clerk in the state to come out against the idea of allowing illegal immigrants in the state to obtain driver’s licenses. She has also been a long and vocal opponent of the state’s SAFE law, and fought hard to get gun shows back to the Saratoga Springs City Center.
In 2012 Marchione announced she would primary the more moderate state Sen. Roy McDonald, the incumbent, for the 43rd Senate District seat.
McDonald, a fellow Republican, voted to allow gay marriage and was not as conservative on other issues as Marchione thought district voters were demanding.
In a bruising primary battle Marchione beat McDonald by 99 votes to win the Republican line in that year’s general election. She later went on to win her first term in the state Senate by defeating McDonald, who ran on the Independence line and Democrat Robin Andrews.
She won re- election by defeating Democrat Brian F. Howard in 2014 with 61.5 percent of the vote and again in 2016 defeating Democrat Shaun Francis by getting 61 percent of the vote.
Saratoga County Republican Committee Chairman Carl Zeilman posted a statement on his Facebook page.
“It was a bittersweet discussion I had recently with our beloved state Senator Kathy Marchione, as she shared her intentions to retire.” he wrote. “Kathy has been a friend, mentor, inspiration, and role mode to so many throughout her four decades of dedicated public service. Our entire team in Saratoga County will miss her unrelenting enthusiasm and love for community, as well as her determination to always make it a better place. I wish her the best as she and her family move on to the next chapter in their lives. Thank you senator.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, RWillsboro, said in a tweet later Wednesday, “We will miss @KathyMarchione in the New York State Senate. She is truly a great lady and role model with whom I was lucky to have worked. I wish her well!”
Marchione’s concluding sentence in her announcement, a quote from the bible, put her political journey in perspective.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” she wrote.
Democrats were not unhappy to hear the news that Marchione would not run again in the fall. Saratoga County Democratic Committee Chairman Todd Kerner referenced her strongly- held conservative views in his statement.
“Sen. Marchione clearly sees that most New Yorkers are rejecting the extreme conservative agenda she stands for,” he wrote. “Voters want and demand a representative who will fight for their issues and concerns. People no longer want the chaos they see from extremists that are running Washington D.C. that extends all the way back to her. They want a state senator who finds common ground for the problems we all face each day.”
Kerner said he expects an announcement of the party’s candidate for the seat to be made soon.