HUDSON- In the party’s first endorsement of the 2024 cycle, the Working Families Party has endorsed Claire Cousin for State Assembly District 106. The district is currently represented by Democratic Assemblywoman Didi Barrett.
“As a working class parent and life-long Hudson Valley resident, Claire understands what working families in the region are up against,” said Anita Thayer, Capital District Chapter of the New York Working Families Party. “In her role on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, she’s helped to secure major funding for affordable housing and advocated for critical tenant protections. We can count on her to be a powerful leader in the Assembly for affordable housing, climate investments, and high-quality education.”
Cousin announced her challenge to Barrett at a May protest outside the incumbent’s district office. Cousin became the first black woman elected to the Columbia County Board of Supervisors when she ran in 2021.
Left-wing tenant advocates have long criticized Barrett as being too conservative and for failing to support “good cause” eviction legislation which has stalled in the state legislature for years.
Barrett has served in the Assembly since 2012, when she won a special election to replace now Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, who at the time had just taken office as Dutchess County Executive. She serves as the Chair of the Powerful Assembly Energy Committee.
Assembly District 106 encompasses most of Columbia and Dutchess Counties including Hudson, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, and Pleasant Valley.
