Rabbitt, surrounded by supporters, announced in Goshen on Monday. She repeated the announcement
in Monticello and Delhi
GOSHEN – Orange County Clerk Annie Rabbitt formally announced her
candidacy for State Senate in the 42nd District. A Republican, Rabbitt
was a state assemblywoman for years prior to being elected to the county
post.
She is running for the seat currently held by Republican John Bonacic, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Rabbitt, of Greenwood Lake, is a former small businesswoman and among the top items on her list of priorities is to keep local jobs and attract new ones. And she believes in keeping in touch with real people.
“I pumped gas and I had workman comp bills sitting on my desk and I knew I had to have payroll at the end of the week,” she said. “When I went to Albany and I real debated issues, I would ask a sitting assemblyman, ‘How much is the cost of gas?’ If you could not give me that answer, you didn’t deserve to sit in that seat across from me and do business.”
Rabbitt made campaign stops in Goshen, Monticello and Delhi on Monday announcing the launch of her campaign.
Assemblyman Karl Brabenec of Deerpark, another Republican, was the first to announce he would run for the Senate seat, but backed off in “the best interest of the party.” He will run for the Assembly again this fall.
Two Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination – Jen Metzger, a Rosendale town councilwoman, and Pramilla Malik of Wawayanda, an environmentalist and a leader in the anti-CPV power plant movement.
After Rabbitt’s announcement, Malick blasted her, saying “The former assemblywoman has been willfully oblivious to the cesspool of corruption from Orange County to Albany, which will certainly be a central issue in this election.”
Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach, who said he was urged by some to run, is lending his support to Metzger. “Our district is sorely in need of clearing out the ‘good old boys’ clubhouse that has been controlled by a culture of entitlement,” Auerbach said.
