Colin Schmitt heads into second term

By Cloey Callahan
Posted 11/4/20

By Tuesday night it was clear that incumbent republican Colin J. Schmitt was voted to hold the 99th District Assembly seat once again.

Early Wednesday morning the Orange County Board of …

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Colin Schmitt heads into second term

Posted

By Tuesday night it was clear that incumbent republican Colin J. Schmitt was voted to hold the 99th District Assembly seat once again.

Early Wednesday morning the Orange County Board of Elections reported that Schmitt received 60.96 percent of the votes, or 27,145 votes. His opponent, democrat Sarita Bhandarkar, received 39.01 percent of the votes, or 17,374 votes.

The win means that he will hold the seat for two more years.

Schmitt went live just after midnight last night to claim his victory.

“It’s been an honor to represent the 99th assembly district for the last two years,” said Schmitt in his victory speech. “To always focus on fighting for our Hudson Valley values and to deliver real results for our Hudson Valley families in a bipartisan fashion.”

The 99th assembly district covers the Town of New Windsor, Town of Cornwall, Town of Highlands, Town of Hamptonburgh, Town of Blooming Grove, Village of Woodbury, Town of Stony Point, Town of Wawayanda, Town of Goshen and Town of Chester.

“To my voters, grassroot volunteers and supporters, I say thank you for making this possible,” said Schmitt. Following that he thanked his family and wife as well.

“At the end of the day we might not be able to change the entire world in one day, but we can change the world for somebody each and every day, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do for the next two years,” said Schmitt

Schmitt also reported that every single assembly republican in New York has been reelected.

“It’s been the honor of my life to serve this district and all the communities that make it up,” said Schmitt. “We’re just getting started.”

In his first legislative session, he passed 43 sponsored and cosponsored bills and has a “bipartisan legislative focus on tax relief, ethics reform, preservation of our community and natural resources, and delivers our fair share of funding from Albany.”

Additionally, during his first legislative session he was named as the Ranking Minority Member of the Assembly committee on Local Government. He also served on the Banks, Housing, Labor and Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development committees. In an earlier interview with the Mid Hudson Times he said he hopes to continue to pass legislation for the district that will restore funding, focus on community preservation and help with property tax relief, and is especially pushing for a senior property tax freeze.

“I am a voice for all residents of our district and whether you voted for me today or not I will always be here to help and assist you,” he said in a Facebook post.

Bhandarkar could not be reached for comment on Wednesday