NEW YORK STATE — Three candidates are on the ballot for the New York State Senate’s reconfigured 48th District. Rachel May, currently the 53rd District senator, is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines. Julie Abbott, currently an Onondaga County Legislator, is running on the Republican line. Justin Coretti, an attorney in Cayuga County, is running on the Conservative line.
The redrawn 48th District includes the city of Syracuse as well as the towns of Skaneateles, Spafford, Elbridge, Onondaga, Marcellus, Van Buren, Lysander, Fabius, Pompey, LaFayette, Tully and Otisco. The district also includes Cayuga County.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Early voting began Saturday, Oct. 29. Visit ongov.net/elections/early-voting.html for more information or contact the Onondaga County Board of Elections at 315-435-8683.
Julie Abbott (REP)
How will your professional and personal experiences serve you in government?
First and foremost, I’m a hard-working mother of five boys on a mission to be our strong upstate voice in Albany. I wholeheartedly believe children deserve an equal chance at success in life, regardless of where they are born. As a former television journalist, former school board vice president and current Onondaga County Legislator, I’m working to ensure a bright future for all our children and the community in which they live, so that they can prosper right here in Central New York one day. Helping to land the Micron chip plant, the largest private business investment in New York State history, in my role on the Planning and Economic Development Committee is a prime example.
While my opponent voted on another record state budget increase, as an Onondaga County Legislator, I’m delivering the largest tax decrease to our people. Supporting lower taxes, investing in infrastructure around White Pine Commerce Park to lure Micron to our community, and fighting poverty are top priorities. I chaired the Health and Human Services Committee during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic where I focused heavily on keeping our most vulnerable safe and a strong economic recovery.
As current chair of the Environmental Protection Committee for the County Legislature, I have also secured six-figure investments to fight invasive species such as water chestnuts and promote clean drinking water and common-sense watershed management.
What are the top concerns or issues constituents have expressed to you? How do you plan to address these issues?
Public safety and cost of living are your top concerns. To support safe communities, we need to roll back catch-and-release bail policies that give out “get out of jail free cards” to people arrested on charges of arson, endangering the welfare of a child, and even child pornography, to name a few. We need to support local law enforcement that works so hard to keep us safe by addressing policies that make their jobs more difficult like the HALT Act and Discovery Reform.
To bring affordability back to CNY, we need to cut taxes and support common sense policies that will foster lower energy costs and healthcare costs. We need to enact a permanent state spending cap because just imagine what would happen if you, your family, or my family spent our own dollars as frivolously as New York State loves to spend our tax dollars? We must improve our business climate by eliminating job-killing regulations and protecting our small businesses from unemployment insurance tax increases.
With large companies such as Micron and Amazon investing in Central New York, what is your plan to encourage smart development, preserve CNY’s natural resources and protect homeowners from high real property taxes?
I am incredibly proud of the votes I have taken on the County Legislature to help prepare Onondaga County to lure jobs from Micron and Amazon to Central New York. From housing to workforce development to infrastructure, I have done everything I can to maximize our “Erie Canal Moment” and bring real opportunities for our next generation of Central New Yorkers to thrive right here. I am incredibly proud to have supported a record tax cut of 11% in Onondaga County this year, and incentives for developers to begin building new housing units in our community.
The pandemic has deeply impacted students’ academic performance and mental health. What is your plan to help address these issues?
Your zip code should not determine your child’s success in life. The Upstate-Downstate divide in education funding is very real and blatantly unfair to our children here in Central New York. I will be a strong voice and speak up for our community getting its fair share from the state. I served as vice president of the Skaneateles Board of Education for years, where mental health and resilience was a top priority of mine. In the county, I have supported mental health funding for schools, and pushed hard to expand mental health beds/services locally.
When it comes to issues such as bail reform and gun ownership laws, what can New York State do to balance individual rights with public safety?
I am not suggesting that we ruin someone’s life over stealing a candy bar. This is about basic public safety. We need to give judges the authority to keep true threats to public safety behind bars. As far as New York’s most recent “election year political stunt” that sought to make it more difficult for those with licenses to concealed carry, I don’t support policies that are meant to pull the wool over the eyes of the people we represent. Our governor was asked by members of the media, point blank, whether she had any statistics that indicated concealed-carry permit holders were behind gun violence. She replied, “I don’t need to have a data point.”
The chair of the Onondaga County Democratic Party, who is also an assemblywoman representing the Syracuse Southside, didn’t even vote for this. That is because she knows it’s the illegal guns and shootings that we need to address, not law-abiding Central New Yorkers. I believe in working together to reach real solutions based on the facts.
Justin M. Coretti (CON)
How will your professional and personal experiences serve you in government?
I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life serving our community in the legal arena. I’ve forced the state’s Education Department to provide appropriate educational and healthcare services to our underserved through litigation and negotiation. I am fully prepared to use my experience to ensure all of our community is appropriately served by their government through fiscal responsibility and preservation of individual rights.
What are the top concerns or issues constituents have expressed to you? How do you plan to address these issues?
Locally, crime and law enforcement have been of great concern. There is a substance abuse epidemic which leads to violent and non-violent crimes. New York is stripping law enforcement of its ability to make our communities safe through bail reform. Bail reform must be overturned and power returned to local law enforcement.
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion rights are now at the forefront of many minds. I use the term “rights” quite loosely because, with very limited exceptions (life of the mother, incest or rape), we don’t have the “right” to kill unborn children. The legalization and limitations of one’s ability to kill their unborn child is now left to the states; I agree with many of my constituents that abortions should be allowed in only very limited circumstances.
With large companies such as Micron and Amazon investing in Central New York, what is your plan to encourage smart development, preserve CNY’s natural resources and protect homeowners from high real property taxes?
Homeowners are already unreasonably laden with high property taxes that prevent first-time home buyers from purchasing a property. We need significant tax breaks for residential home buyers to encourage constituents to remain in the area. Infrastructure should also be addressed and I think a high-speed fiber optic internet network should be looked into. With only two feasible options for high-speed internet in the area, additional competition will encourage lower cost, higher quality product.
The pandemic has deeply impacted students’ academic performance and mental health. What is your plan to help address these issues?
Local educational agencies (LEA) must ensure that their students have access to therapeutic counseling services in school. Moreover, parents require full reports from schools on their child’s emotional, mental, and educational well-being so that they can address deficits at home, as well. LEAs should not be hiding any information from parents. Parents must be given the power to address their children’s needs at home (e.g., access to individual tutors, classwork and homework, and school choice).
When it comes to issues such as bail reform and gun ownership laws, what can New York State do to balance individual rights with public safety?
Individual rights and public safety go hand in hand. New York’s current unconstitutional infringements on its citizen’s 2A rights, including red flag laws, must be overturned. We don’t outlaw other objects that can be used as weapons or create unreasonable restrictions on their use. To address the unlawful use of a firearm, we should address the need for better access to mental health services.
Rachel May (DEM, WOR)
How will your professional and personal experiences serve you in government?
My background as an educator helps me be an effective listener and problem solver and gives me a broad understanding of a wide range of issues. My experience in government has made me one of the most productive and effective legislators in Albany, with a reputation for excellent constituent service and a long list of significant legislation and budgetary victories.
What are the top concerns or issues constituents have expressed to you? How do you plan to address these issues?
People are struggling in the current economy. We need to address that by (1) making sure the job growth we are seeing results in good-paying jobs for local people, which means investing in job training in schools, colleges, and apprenticeship programs; (2) bringing down the cost of rent to reduce poverty and homelessness, by promoting affordable housing; (3) addressing price gouging by oil companies, big pharma, and retailers whose profits have soared while people have suffered; and (4) providing access to fresh food in stores, senior centers, and neighborhoods that lack good grocery stores.
With large companies such as Micron and Amazon investing in Central New York, what is your plan to encourage smart development, preserve CNY’s natural resources and protect homeowners from high real property taxes?
I’m pushing for Bus Rapid Transit in Syracuse and will work to extend that elsewhere in the region and incentivize transit-oriented development; I also advocate for affordable housing, partly through rethinking our zoning restrictions.
I have a track record of fighting irresponsible development in the Finger Lakes and will work closely with Micron and associated businesses to make sure we are not jeopardizing this treasure.
About property taxes, I anticipate they may actually come down when an increasing population with well-paid jobs expands our property tax base.
The pandemic has deeply impacted students’ academic performance and mental health. What is your plan to help address these issues?
At the state level, the main tool we have for this is funding for mental health support in schools. I have pushed hard for increasing funding and will continue to do so. I also was a key champion for increasing school funding overall, which allows for more community schools, after school programs, and other support services for our kids. I also believe arts education is important to students’ well being, and I’m a strong advocate for making music and art education more widespread.
When it comes to issues such as bail reform and gun ownership laws, what can New York State do to balance individual rights with public safety?
We need to look at the real drivers of crime and shape policy based on facts, not on sound bites. The main drivers of crime are poverty, substance abuse, trauma, and mental illness. Locking people up on minor charges without trial simply because they can’t pay bail makes all these factors worse and should be used sparingly. Now that we know that the reforms did not cause an increase in rearrests, we need to look elsewhere for policy changes.
Responsible gun owners I talk with support background checks, safety training and limits on military-style weapons in civilian hands.
