Democrat opens bid against Tague in 102nd District
A Greene County Democrat has announced she will run against Republican Assemblyman Chris Tague in the November election.
Mary “Betsy” Kraat, 46, of Hunter, was born in Kingston and has lived in Saugerties, Catskill and Hunter.
“I decided to run for Assembly because I believe there should be greater diversity at higher levels of government,” Kraat said in a prepared statement. “The working people of New York state need representation which reflects their best interests, not the interests of the donor class.”
Tague, who lives in Schoharie, has been in the Assembly since winning a special election for a vacant seat in April 2018. He represents New York’s 102nd Assembly District, which includes all of Greene and Schoharie counties; parts of Otsego, Delaware, and Albany counties; and the towns of Saugerties in Ulster County and Stockport and Stuyvesant in Columbia County.
Tague previously was town of Schoharie supervisor.
Kraat is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Binghamton and is a candidate for a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University.
Kraat says on her campaign website (betsyforassembly.com) that she “speaks from the real experiences of being a special-needs mom who has very unfortunately grappled with the harsh reality of rent instability in the 102nd District.”
Kraat said she is the single mother of two teenage boys and has been evicted twice — once for refusing to pay rent because of bedbug infestation.
Her website describes her as “a fighter” who is “fearless” and “speaks truth to power.”
Kraat said she has worked with the Girl Scouts in Ulster County and has been an intern with Family of Woodstock and Citizen Action of New York.
On the issues
• Housing: Kraat supports universal rent control, fully funding public housing, and mandating that evictions be for a legitimate reason. She also supports statewide restrictions on short-term rental properties.
• Labor/jobs: Kraat supports collective-bargaining rights for all workers, including domestic workers and independent contractors, and she favors the repeal of Taylor Law restrictions that she says make it difficult for public-sector unions to bargain.
• Education: She favors free SUNY and CUNY tuition for all, adding teachers and reducing class sizes in public schools, having more social workers and fewer police officers in public schools, maintaining current restrictions on charter schools, and moving away from the use of property taxes to fund education.
• Health care: Kraat favors providing care to the uninsured, bringing maternity care to underserved counties, adequately funding mental health care, and giving student loan forgiveness to rural health workers.