Allegro: “… days of political
opportunism are over …”
MONROE – United Monroe Executive Committee Member John Allegro has announced he will seek the Republican line for the 98th District Assembly seat this fall.
Allegro will face incumbent Republican Karl Brabenec in a primary. Brabanec is seeking a second two-year term.
Allegro, who is part of the effort to block the expansion in the Village of Kiryas Joel, including annexation of adjacent lands, said Brabenec “has played both sides of the fence” throughout his freshman term. Allegro said the incumbent has taken “a safe stance on the ‘annexation hot potato’ in Monroe.
“It’s time for us to show Albany that the days of political opportunism are over in the 98th Assembly district,” Allegro said. “We need a strong voice in the capital who will stand up to the establishment and fight the real battles that concern our district and our people.”
Allegro said he will also seek the endorsement and candidacy for United Monroe’s independent party line.
Brabenec’s chief of staff and campaign manager, Joe Coleman, said he hopes “for the sake of our communities that Mr. Allegro will reconsider this reckless decision and remember that we can only win this fight if we stand united.”
Coleman said Brabenec was the first state legislator to introduce a measure to stop the Kiryas Joel annexation. “Since taking office he has been a tireless fighter against the corrupting influence of the Kiryas Joel Political Establishment.”
Coleman said the only effect Allegro’s candidacy would have “will be to erase this two years of progress that’s been achieved against annexation, and to hand this seat over to the Kiryas Joel political establishment, empowering them in ways that will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.”
