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Political Update

June 12th, 2018

Teachout, Maloney Officially Launch Campaigns for Attorney General

Last Tuesday, law professor Zephyr Teachout announced that she is running for state Attorney General in the Democratic Primary. (Watch her launch video.) She launched her campaign at an event near Trump Tower in Manhattan, where she promised to take a hard line on the “unconstitutional” policies of President Trump while also taking on corruption in Albany and on Wall Street. Teachout lost in the Democratic primary for New York Governor in 2014, and lost a Congressional race against Congressman John Faso in 2016.

Last Wednesday, Hudson Valley Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney announced that he plans to run for Attorney General. A Democrat, he represents Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester counties. Maloney, the first openly gay member of the state’s congressional delegation, ran for the position in 2006, losing a three-way primary to now-Governor Andrew Cuomo. Maloney is also simultaneously running for reelection to his congressional seat as he seeks the Democratic nomination for AG, despite questions about its legality.

Two other Democrats are running in the September 13th Democratic primary — New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, who won the endorsement of state Democrats at their convention last month, and Leecia Eve, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Teachout, Maloney and Eve will have to collect at least 15,000 petition signatures by July 12 in order to appear on the Democratic primary ballot. The winner of that race will face Republican Keith Wofford in November.

Barbara Underwood is the current state Attorney General. She was chosen by the Legislature to complete the term of Democrat Eric Schneiderman, who resigned in May following allegations of physically abusing women.

Skoufis Launches Run for State Senate

Assemblyman James Skoufis (D-Woodbury) recently announced that he is running for the 39th State Senate seat that is being vacated by Senator Bill Larkin (R-Cornwall-On-Hudson). The district includes parts of Orange, Rockland and Ulster counties. (Watch a video of his campaign launch here.)

Two Republicans have announced that they are running for the seat — Thomas Basile, a Stony Point town councilman, and Michael Anagnostakis, and Orange County legislator from the Town of Newburgh.

This race is expected to one of the handful of competitive races that could determine control of the narrowly-divided Senate in 2019. As such, it is expected to be an expensive and high profile one.

The 39th Senate District includes parts of Orange, Ulster and Rockland counties.