Democat decided, Republican unknown to fill outgoing Destito's seat
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - One candidate is out and another is in, and there is still no date for the special election to replace outgoing Assemblywoman Roann Destito in the 116th district.
Initially, it appeared there might be a rematch between Utica Mayor David Roefaro, a Democrat, and former Mayor Tim Julian, a Republican. Both said they were interested in the Assembly seat, but Roefaro last week bowed out, opting instead to run again for mayor. Julian now says he is no longer interested in the seat, citing family reasons, primarily his two young sons, who need him in Utica full time. The Oneida County Democratic Party Thursday night chose Utica School Board Member Anthony Brindisi, an attorney, as their Assembly candidate. The Republicans will not chose their candidate for three weeks, but the county party chair says that doesn't put the party at a disadvantage. "Mr. Brindisi's nomination was expected. It's not a surprise to us, at least, and we're going to pursue our process just as we planned. We have several candidates who are interested and we'll chose our candidate in April," says Oneida County Republican Party Chair George Mitchell. Mitchell says Greg Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully against Destito, is interested, as are two others he's not yet at liberty to name. It's still not clear when the special election to replace Destito, who's leaving the post to head up the State Office of General Services, will take place. First, the governor has to formally request that the Senate approve her nomination. Once that happens, the governor can declare a special election. Our calls this week to the governor's press office to determine a time frame for these steps were not returned. |
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