Bonacic: “still make a difference”
BONACIC – State Senator John Bonacic (R, Mount Hope) announced on Friday he would seek another term in November.
The longtime lawmaker, who was an assemblyman prior to winning his Senate seat in 1998, said he is running again because “I believe I can still make a difference.”
Bonacic termed this election “critical” with the fate of upstate New York hanging in the balance. The Senate majority is Republican while the Assembly is Democratic. “If both houses of the legislature fall under the control of New York City Democrats, regional parity will go by the wayside in every area; education, healthcare, transportation, funding, taxes, etc.” That is why a Republican senate must be maintained, he said.
Throughout his tenure, Bonacic said he has championed the causes of healthcare, property tax relief, regulatory reform, housing, education and veterans, and in the last several years was a driving force to legal gambling in New York.
One Democrat, Mamakating Town Supervisor Bill Herrmann, had announced he would challenge Bonacic, but Orange County Democratic Chairman Bret Broge said Herrmann told him he would stay put in his town post. Herrmann did not return our call for comment.
