Ashby Wins Full Term in Assembly
By Doug La Rocque
It was a political battle in which Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove touted his many years of experience as a prosecutor, while his Democratic opponent, Mary Pat Donnelly countered her years of judicial service helped to uniquely prepare her for the job. The cloud that hung over Mr. Abelove’s head throughout the campaign, was his handling of a fatal police shooting in Troy in 2016, where he was accused of rushing the case to a Grand Jury, who cleared the officer involved of any criminal wrong doing. The New York State Attorney General cried foul, and convened a special county grand jury, that indicted Mr. Abeleove for “interfering and lying about the investigation” into the shooting. Those charges were dismissed in June of this year, although the Attorney General is trying to have them reinstated.
Ms. Donnelly also criticized the incumbent for what she called a heavy turnover in office personnel, and a steady stream of felony cases that were dismissed because of timeliness issues.
Ms. Donnelly’s margin of victory was about 10 percent over Mr. Abeleove, who offered no comment to the media following his defeat and left his own viewing party early.
What’s Next
Ms. Donnelly spoke with The Eastwick Press following her victory speech in Troy Tuesday night, and said she plans to appoint a news first assistant soon, but “ I will not purge the office. I plan to speak with all the personnel when it is appropriate about their future roles.” She also indicated that she plans to move quickly to fill a number of vacancies in the Assistant District Attorney’s staffing levels. Ms. Donnelly was also asked how she plans to address what she perceives as a lack of credibility in the DA’s Office, she answered simply, “ by getting to work.”\\
Delgado Ousts Faso In The 19th Congressional District
by Doug La Rocque
It was often a bitter campaign, with highly charged accusations flying from both candidates and their supporters. It was targeted by the National Democratic Party as a seat they could turn in their battle to grab control of the U.S. Congress, and both national parties funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaigns. When the smoke cleared on election night, Antonio Delgado had defeated the incumbent, John Faso, by a margin of about 3 percent. Speaking to supporters at his victory party in Kingston, Mr. Delgado said it was time for the divisiveness to stop, and promised to represent everyone in the district, anywhere, anytime. Throughout the campaign, Mr. Delgado hit on several issues, including health care and middle class tax reform, as well as the environment, having made a trip to Hoosick Falls for a town hall meeting, where he lent his voice to those that have criticized how the PFOA contamination in the town, village and in Petersburgh were handled. He called for more action and more accountability.
Mr. Faso was in his first term as a member of congress. He succeeded Chris Gibson who served two terms as the 19th district representative, after it was created in a 2010 redistricting.
Mr. Faso, of Kinderhook, told his supporters Tuesday night, “remember through 242 years of this great republic, we’ve had many times when Americans were polarized and divided and campaigns where fought vigorously. At the same time we have to recognize …that America is great because the American people are good