MidHudson News

GOSHEN – As the 2024 political season begins, several Republicans have formally announced their candidacy for Congress, State Senate, Assembly, and Family Court Judge in Orange County.

First to announce in October was Republican Congressional Candidate Alison Esposito, who plans to challenge incumbent Democrat Pat Ryan.  Esposito grew up in Highland Mills and currently lives in Goshen.  She spent a career in law enforcement and recently retired as a Captain in the NYPD to run for lieutenant governor in 2022.  Though Esposito and her running mate, former candidate for governor Lee Zeldin lost their gubernatorial bid, they bested Governor Kathy Hochul and Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado among voters in the 18th Congressional District, where she is now running.  Esposito has the formal endorsement of the county Republican and Conservative committees.

Republican Dorey Houle is repeating her run for State Senate in the 42nd District against incumbent Democrat Senator James Skoufis.  Houle narrowly lost the race in 2022 and announced her 2024 candidacy last year.  Houle has been endorsed by the Republican and Conservative parties and this past weekend opened a campaign office in the Village of Florida.  Over the past six years, Houle has served on the Village of Monroe Board, and presently serves on the Monroe Town Board.  According to her campaign website, her key issues include crime and public safety, mental health, drug addiction, cost of living and state spending, and protecting local elections.

First-term Republican State Senator Rob Rolison, who represents the 39th District, is seeking re-election in the fall.  Rolison is a former police officer and served as the mayor of the City of Poughkeepsie.  He is slated to face Yvette Valdes Smith, the minority leader of the Dutchess County Legislature in a district that encompasses portions of Orange, Putnam, and Dutchess counties.

Two incumbent Republican assemblymen have announced their intention to run for re-election in November.  Last week in Port Jervis, Karl Brabenec of Deerpark announced his intention to run for a fifth term in the State Assembly.  Brabenec represents the 98th District which includes portions of Rockland and Orange counties and currently does not have an opponent.

Assemblyman Brian Maher of Montgomery announced on Sunday that he is seeking a second term in November.  Maher previously was elected as the supervisor of the Town of Montgomery and served as the mayor of the Village of Walden.  He currently represents the 101st District which next year will include portions of Orange, Ulster, Sullivan, and Delaware counties.  Recently, Maher signed into legislation targeted at reducing fentanyl and opioid overdoses and previously introduced bills that would designate Xylazine as a controlled substance and establish a ‘Death by Dealer’ statute which would allow prosecutors to seek bail for certain offenses.  To date, no Democrat has announced a challenge against Maher.

Orange County’s three other assembly districts, the 99th represented by Democrat Chris Eachus of New Windsor, the 104th represented by Jonathan Jacobson of Newburgh, and the 100th represented by Democrat Aileen Gunther of Forestburgh all have no announced challengers.