State Assemblyman Gary Finch on Thursday announced that he will seek re-election, and his likely challenger is the same person who ran against him in 2006.
Finch, a Republican from Springport who has held the 123rd Assembly District seat since 2000, made the announcement at Pine Hollow Dairy in Genoa.
“I chose to make the announcement from the farm because of the situation that farmers are finding themselves in because of huge diesel fuel costs,” Finch said later in the day.
He expressed his concern for farmers in Cayuga County and the state over fuel prices and the effects it could have on the state's top industry.
Finch's campaign said in a news release that as a senior member of the Assembly's Agriculture Committee, Finch would continue to advocate for agribusiness.
He was successful last year, the release said, in securing more than $60 million to assist dairy farmers at a time when milk prices were at a historic low.
Finch, an Auburn native, has owned and operated Brew-Finch Funeral Homes Inc. since 1970.
His career in politics started in 1979 as a trustee in the village of Aurora.
Barbara Abbott King, a Democrat from Aurora, said she's interested in running against Finch again but will wait until she's secured the Democratic Party nomination before announcing a campaign.
King said she's an “elections finance reform candidate” and that the state Legislature needs to address term limits for its members.
King ran her 2006 campaign on less than $3,000 and said that Finch's enormous advantage in campaign funds shouldn't be looked at as a factor.
“It's all about the relationship between the candidate and the community,” King said.
“People need to know that being a non-incumbent can be overcome. It's all up to the constituency.”
Cayuga County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Katie Lacey said Thursday that Finch “deserves to have an opponent out there who is questioning his record - or lack thereof.”
Lacey said that King, whose 2006 campaign was her first at any level, would make a good candidate.
“She had a good strong run last time on a very limited budget,” she said.
Lacey said voters in the district need to accept that minority members like Finch have “no active participation” in the Assembly and are therefor burdened with an inability to deliver for the district.
King, who earned about 40 percent of the vote against Finch in 2006, attended the state Democratic Committee meeting last week.
“It's going to be a dynamic election,” she said.
The 123rd Assembly District includes parts of Cayuga, Cortland, Chenango, Tioga and Broome counties.
“I chose to make the announcement from the farm because of the situation that farmers are finding themselves in because of huge diesel fuel costs,” Finch said later in the day.
He expressed his concern for farmers in Cayuga County and the state over fuel prices and the effects it could have on the state's top industry.
Finch's campaign said in a news release that as a senior member of the Assembly's Agriculture Committee, Finch would continue to advocate for agribusiness.
He was successful last year, the release said, in securing more than $60 million to assist dairy farmers at a time when milk prices were at a historic low.
Finch, an Auburn native, has owned and operated Brew-Finch Funeral Homes Inc. since 1970.
His career in politics started in 1979 as a trustee in the village of Aurora.
Barbara Abbott King, a Democrat from Aurora, said she's interested in running against Finch again but will wait until she's secured the Democratic Party nomination before announcing a campaign.
King said she's an “elections finance reform candidate” and that the state Legislature needs to address term limits for its members.
King ran her 2006 campaign on less than $3,000 and said that Finch's enormous advantage in campaign funds shouldn't be looked at as a factor.
“It's all about the relationship between the candidate and the community,” King said.
“People need to know that being a non-incumbent can be overcome. It's all up to the constituency.”
Cayuga County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Katie Lacey said Thursday that Finch “deserves to have an opponent out there who is questioning his record - or lack thereof.”
Lacey said that King, whose 2006 campaign was her first at any level, would make a good candidate.
“She had a good strong run last time on a very limited budget,” she said.
Lacey said voters in the district need to accept that minority members like Finch have “no active participation” in the Assembly and are therefor burdened with an inability to deliver for the district.
King, who earned about 40 percent of the vote against Finch in 2006, attended the state Democratic Committee meeting last week.
“It's going to be a dynamic election,” she said.
The 123rd Assembly District includes parts of Cayuga, Cortland, Chenango, Tioga and Broome counties.
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Farmer's Gal wrote on May 10, 2008 1:27 PM:
Gary Finch makes it very clear in whose corner he is standing (quite literally, given his choice of location for announcing his candidacy) -- he stands for corporate agribusiness in this region -- which bring the rest of us nothing good.
We get polluted air, water and soil, the jobs go to aliens (some legal, and as news stories in the past couple years have shown, some not legal) -- who send as much of their wages as they can not only out of the region but out of the country. These same big fish put the small farms out of business then gobble up their land so they have somewhere to dump more and more liquid manure in their pursuit of ever greater profits while further polluting our air, water and soil.
Mr. Finch helps make sure these thriving businesses get corporate welfare in the form of subsidies meant for the small struggling farms they are putting out of business. He helps hide the fact that we are already paying more than $5 a gallon for milk -- because those big agribusinesses are getting the other portion in the form of subsidies taken from our pockets in taxes.
Because the subsidies are given based not on need but on volume of milk produced, they further favor those already highly profitable businesses who don't need aid while leaving the small farms with the crumbs.
Seriously, it is time for a change -- not just rhetoric, but a switch away from a candidate openly in the back pocket of corporate interests to a candidate who is a small farmer herself. This election has a much easier choice for voters than the national presidential campaign.
(I've asserted nothing as fact about Mr. Finch that he doesn't openly say of himself --i.e. that he is first and foremost for agribusiness in this region and that he works actively to get them subsidies out of our pockets-- so I certainly hope this post will be accepted). "