State comptroller tries to pump up local Democrats in visit to Albion
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli was in Albion on Saturday to meet with the local Democratic Party and encourage them in what is often a daunting task of fielding candidates in a Republican-dominated county.
DiNapoli has been state comptroller since 2007. He has met with local Democrats at least twice before in Albion.
He noted Democrats in rural parts of the state have the work extra hard to get candidates elected. In Orleans County, Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 2-to-1 ratio.
“Every vote you get in Orleans County is a hard-fought vote,” DiNapoli told about 30 people during a gathering on Saturday at Hoag Library. “I don’t want you to think that we at the state level don’t appreciate and recognize it.”
He said Democrats can win by drawing support from independents and even some Republicans. He urged them to keep trying in the local elections and stay active as a committee in the county.
“Bad things happen when good people don’t vote,” he said.
Tom DiNapoli addresses local Democrats in Albion on Saturday. Jeff Lewis, Democratic Party chairman in Orleans County, is in back at right.
A priority this coming election is to defeat Donald Trump in the presidential race. DiNapoli said there “is a lot of soul-searching going on” among Democrats. Joe Biden faces increasing pressure to drop out of the race. He is trailing Trump in the polls, and Biden is coming off what many view as a “disastrous” debate against Trump last month.
“We have to stay united as Democrats and make sure Trump is not re-elected again,” DiNapoli said, calling Trump “a threat to democracy.”
The state comptroller said New York State is doing well economically as it works to recover from the Covid pandemic. He said New York City is back to 100 percent with jobs from the pre-Covid levels. Other parts of the state aren’t quite back to 100 percent and are in the 90s. But DiNapoli said unemployment is low at 4.9 percent and sales tax returns have been strong.
The comptroller oversees at $268 billion pension fund, that DiNapoli was up 11.5 percent last year. His office also puts out many reports highlighting challenges in rural areas, including shrinking population, an aging population, emergency services, affordable housing and child poverty. DiNapoli said three upstate cities – Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse – are among the top 10 in the country for highest child poverty levels.
He tries to highlight issues for state legislators and the governor to work on and address with legislation and the state budget.
“As Democrats we want everyone to be lifted up and not just the wealthy and the few,” he said.
David Wagenhauser, a Democrat from Waterloo in Seneca County, attended the Democratic Party gathering on Saturday with DiNapoli. Wagenhauser seeks to unseat Rep. Claudia Tenney in the 24th Congressional District that covers 14 counties including Orleans.
Wagenhauser is a retired lawyer. He has served as a Brockport village trustee.
DiNapoli said a victory by Wagenhauser would help put the House of Representatives back in a Democratic majority. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also is up for election in November, and her re-election is critical for Democrats to hang on to a razor-thin majority in the Senate, DiNapoli said.
