Batavia woman challenging Steve Hawley for State Assembly
Sarah Wolcott
BATAVIA – A Batavia woman who organized protests against Donald Trump last year, which attracted several hundred people, announced today she will be running against Steve Hawley for the 139th Assembly District, which includes all of Orleans, Genesee and small portions of Monroe and Erie counties.
“I’m running to serve my community by protecting what’s good and fixing what’s broken,” said Sarah Wolcott, in her campaign announcement today. “It’s time for leadership that’s earned, not inherited, and I’m here to fight for everyday people like myself.”
Hawley runs an insurance company in Batavia. He has been the assemblyman for nearly 20 years, seldom with any opposition. He was first elected to the position in a special election on February 28, 2006. His father, the late R. Stephen Hawley, also served as assembly from 1973 to 1993.
Wolcott will be seeking Democratic Party support in the election. She is lifelong Batavian and blue-collar community advocate. She said her focus will be on uplifting working families, strengthening rural communities, and bringing authentic, earned leadership back to Albany.
Wolcott said she represents “the grit, compassion, and determination that define Western New York.” The Genesee Community College graduate credits both her education and her lived experience for shaping her commitment to public service.
She has organized food drives, led local protests, and donates plasma weekly to help neighbors. Through these efforts, she said she has seen firsthand the challenges facing working families and the limits of what can be changed without a seat at the table.
“It’s time for workers, not career politicians to lead,” Wolcott stated in a news release. “We need leaders who have struggled and sweat to represent us. I want to bridge divides and build a future where neighbors work together, not against each other.”
Her campaign priorities include:
- Accessible healthcare that every New Yorker can afford
- Ensuring Western NY remains affordable for local residents
- Protecting rural communities from development like at STAMP
- Building unity, not division, across Genesee County and beyond
The Orleans County Democratic Party Committee hasn’t endorsed a candidate yet for this year’s Assembly election. Wolcott met with the Orleans committee last month.
For more information on her campaign, click here.
