Hinchey shares vision for Senate district
For Michelle Hinchey, back-to-school shopping was often a lesson on the impact government services and support had on the public.
A shopping trip that would normally take an hour stretched into three or four as her father, former U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, would stop to talk with constituents.
“I heard those conversations — everything from ‘Thank you so much, you helped my mother stay in her home’ to ‘Please help me, I can’t get my veterans benefits.’ And that really shapes how you see the world,” she said.
She’s following her late father’s footsteps into public service:
The Saugerties native successfully won the 46th Senate District in the Nov. 3 election, besting Rensselaerville Republican challenger Rich Amedure during the count of absentee ballots.
Maurice Hinchey was known for championing environmental issues early in his political career, having served as chair of the state Assembly ’s Environmental Conservation Committee. He joined the Assembly in 1975, serving until 1992 when he was elected to Congress.
He was credited for his work making the Hudson Valley a cradle of the national environmental movement in the 1970s, and pushed to remove PCBS from the Hudson River.
“He was so far ahead of his time on renewable energy and solar energy and protecting our environment,” Michelle Hinchey said. “And here we are in 2020 still having that conversation, still battling and trying to champion these same things, which is a big piece of why I ran.”
Hinchey also saw first-hand the need for quality, affordable home and health care.
When her father — who died in 2017 — was stricken with a rare brain disorder that took away his ability to speak and caused Parkinson’s-like symptoms, she said her family had to sell land to pay for his home care.
“If that’s what we were facing, what in the world is everybody else facing ?” she said. “And we are still dealing with ... the financial fallout of that, and that’s horrible.”
There’s an economic opportunity, Hinchey said, to be found in the clear and growing need for home care services, particularly in rural and suburban communities that may not have health care services readily accessible.
The 46th District stretches from Montgomery County to Ulster County and runs through Schenectady, Albany and Greene counties.
Grass-roots organizations earlier this year released a report showing the Hudson Valley is facing a home health care shortage and emphasized the need for New York to support and invest in the growing sector.
Hinchey also serves on the board of directors for the Catskill Center, which works to promote the environmental and economic well-being of the region, and sees opportunities for the agricultural sector to tap into the hemp industry; a need to expand quality broadband access for both individuals as well as small business owners; and the chance to give upstate a voice in Albany.
Sen. Neil Breslin, an Albany Democrat who has served in the chamber since 1997, said he’s thrilled Hinchey is coming aboard.
“I find her to be extremely bright, hard-working and not the least bit caught up with her victory,” Breslin said. “I find that her humility is kind of refreshing. I think that she’ll be just a tremendous addition.”
Hinchey is one of several Democrats who flipped a district in upstate New York ( her seat was previously held by George Amedore), an accomplishment that political insiders say is particularly impressive since district lines were last drawn by a Republican majority.
Her win has also helped secure the Senate Democrats’ historic, veto-proof supermajority.
The 46th District has a slight Democratic enrollment advantage, but is considered a swing seat, with unaffiliated voters accounting for roughly one-third of eligible voters in the district.
Breslin, who described himself as the “dean of the upstate delegation” (the wink is implied), said the party ’s wins in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo gives upstate legislators the “proper distribution of Democrats.”
The coronavirus pandemic has “ripped the Band-aid off off ” the gap between the haves and have-nots, he said. If 60 percent of the population would be unable to pay an unexpected $400 bill, Breslin said, “They have a reason to be angry.
“They have a reason to say, ‘Do I support the existing structure, or do I want to vote for an outsider?,’” he said. “We help change it by the new people who are there who are ready to fight.”