Last week, New York State Assembly candidate Carrie Woerner (D - Malta) picked up the endorsement of the influential
Women's Campaign Fund (WCF), a non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing the number of pro-choice women holding public office in national, statewide and local positions. Woerner joins a growing list of prominent female candidates endorsed by the WCF for national and statewide positions, including U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Nunn (D - GA), Gubernatorial candidates Martha Coakley (D - MA) and Wendy Davis (D -TX), as well as California State Senate candidate Sandra Fluke (D).
(Carrie Woerner with Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen (D))
The endorsement of the WCF will provide a substantial boost for Woerner's campaign for the 113th Assembly District, which includes a large portion of the Upper Hudson Valley region of Upstate New York, including the City of Saratoga Springs, as well as several suburban communities in eastern Saratoga County, and most of rural Washington County just west of the Vermont state border. The area has long been considered a Republican stronghold, but has been trending more moderate in recent years like most of the rural Northeast. In 2012, President Obama won the 113th District by 7 points, 1 point higher than his margin of victory nationally, while Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) trouced challenger Wendy Long (R) in the district by a margin of 69% to 31%. In 2013, the Democrats fared well in local elections, gaining a super-majority of seats on the City Council in Saratoga Springs, which contains about one-third of the district's population.
The Republican candidate is Steve Stallmer, a long-time political operative who previously served as Chief of Staff for Congressman Chris Gibson (R - Kinderhook) and had earlier been employed as a lobbyist for the Associated General Contractors of New York. Stallmer, most notably, as Gibson's Chief of Staff spearheaded a 2011 proposal in collaboration with Saratoga Springs lobbyist Bill Teator to construct a nuclear power plant on the Upper Hudson River in the Town of Easton in Washington County, New York, just a few weeks before the Fukushima disaster. So far on the campaign trail this year, Stallmer has mostly been throwing red meat at the right-wing element of the Republican base, pandering to Tea Party voters on issues such as opposition to the SAFE Act and the common core.
Carrie Worner, meanwhile, appears to be positioning herself as the centrist, consensus candidate, addressing local economic development concerns, including bringing more technology jobs to the region. During Carrie's 2012 campaign she discussed the potential for expanding nano medicine, mobile technology and advanced textile industries across the region and supporting entrepreneurs who seek to develop incubator businesses. Carrie Woerner's vision represents a progressive, forward-thinking approach which is needed to help Saratoga and Washington Counties continue to transition into a modern, 21st Century economy.
You may click here to visit Carrie Woerner's official campaign website, which includes volunteering, donation and contact information for the upcoming campaign.