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Ups&Downs
New York State Senate
New York State Politics
Sigler Makes Run at State Senate Seat
Campaign Money Activists Press O’Mara
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egislator Mike Sigler (R-Lansing) has decided to throw his hat in the ring. The two-term county legislator—who snagged a quick 15 minutes of fame on the Humans of New York website last fall, when he was photographed wearing a brown top hat —is making a bid for the state senate seat currently held by Sen. Michael Nozzolio (R-Fayette). Prospecttive candidates must file petitions of more than 1250 signatures by July 14; if there are two or more candidates, that will lead to a Republican primary on Sept. 13. Nozzolio, a Republican, has announced plans to retire instead of seeking reelection after the end of his current two-year term representing the GOP-leaning 54th District. Citing the demands of recovering from open-heart surgery—completed in April— Nozzolio made his announcement back in February, leaving the field wide open for the 2016 elections. As the campaign announcements began rolling in, Sigler decided the time was ripe for a run. “The reason I never really thought about running for higher office before is that we’re the only town from Tompkins [County] in this district,” he explained. “Granted, Lansing is a pretty sizable town, but it’s still only three percent of the whole district. Now, with that said, it’s such a fractured field. Everybody was waiting to see if one of the assemblymen wanted to run, and they didn’t, so now it’s an open field.” Despite speculation that they’d enter the race, Assemblyman Bob Oaks (R-Macedon) and Assemblyman Gary Finch (R-Springport), both members of the lower house, opted to seek reelection in their current seats instead. Though he started his career in broadcast journalism after earning a degree from Columbia Journalism School, Sigler switched to politics when he ran for state assembly in 2002. At the time, he was living in Ithaca and went up against Democrat Barbara Lifton in the left-leaning assembly district that includes Tompkins and Cortland counties. “I quit my job and went door-to-door and knocked on 10,000 doors,” he said. He won over the more conservative Cortland County voters, but was less persuasive for the voters in his home county. He pulled in 42 percent of the vote overall, but learned a lot about campaigning in the process. “We had to run a real campaign,” he said. “For the senate, it’s a bigger district— six counties instead of two—but at least I have some kind of scale.” The 54th Senate District stretches all the way up to Lake Ontario and includes all of Seneca and Wayne counties and parts of Tompkins, Cayuga, Ontario, and Monroe counties, a considerably larger geographic area than
L Mike Sigler (File photo)
the 125th Assembly District. After Lifton won the assembly seat—a position she still occupies—Sigler made a career change and went into advertising. He moved up to Lansing and won a four-year term on the county legislature beginning in 2006. He narrowly lost a bid for reelection in 2010, losing out to Democrat Pat Pryor—but he regained his seat for the 2014 to 2017 term. Now, he’s using some of what he’s learned on the county legislature to shape his senate platform. For one, he wants to tackle unfunded mandates from the state. “If we were just at the state level to take over Medicaid, that would make such a huge difference to the towns and the county,” he said. More generally, he’d like to rein in state spending. “We’re spending money like we’re venture capitalists but we’re not —we’re the state. We build roads and educate children. Solar power is wonderful, but should the state be spending $750 million on a solar power plant?” He’s also unhappy with the state’s current stance on gun control. “I oppose the SAFE Act,” he said. “It seems like they put the SAFE Act in and made a bunch of gun owners who’ve never done anything wrong into criminals overnight.” While gun control is a debate often divided along party lines, Sigler also hopes to tackle an issue that’s becoming more bipartisan: the opioid epidemic. “Harm reduction is certainly something I’d like to explore more at the state level. It seems that people really don’t give up something until they decide to give it up,” he said. “So I guess the question is: How do we wake people up? For right now, I just want harm reduction. I just want people not to die.” Sigler will be going up against a broad field that includes Lyons Town Supervisor Brian Manktelow and Webster Republican Committee member John Tubridy. On the other side of the aisle, Rose Town Supervisor Kenan Baldridge has already garnered support from local Democratic chairs in his race for state office. •
ocal activists are calling on representatives in the state legislature to support a constitutional amendment that would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision that allows unlimited spending on elections by nonprofit corporations. For activists in Ithaca, their focus has been convincing state Sen. Tom O’Mara (R-Big Flats) to sign onto a letter supporting a constitutional amendment; currently half of New York’s 62 state senators have expressed their approval, and the Democratic-controlled Assembly has a clear majority in support of the measure. No resolution will be passed by either house, but the hope from activists is to make New York the 17th state with a clear majority in its legislature for a constitutional amendment. “The U.S Senate took a vote on amendment in November two years ago, and in hearings and discussions it came up how many states and cities have called for a constitutional amendment,” said Jonah Minkhoff-Zern, co-director of notfor-profit advocacy organization Public Citizen’s “Democracy is Sen. Tom O’Mara for People” campaign. “That was significant to them—it’s become such a mass movement, with five million signatures for an amendment.” The New York Democrats’ letter in support of an amendment asks “that artificial entities created by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state are not entitled to the same rights and protections as natural persons under the Constitution and that (2) assures the power of the federal, state, and local governments to limit, regulate, and require full source disclosure of all money spent to influence elections.” In a letter circulated by state Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore), the demand is similar with some different rhetoric, focusing more on unions and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. “The evidence is clear,” Boyle’s letter reads. “Spending by unions, ‘super PACs,’ trade associations, and 501c(4) organizations drove federal election spending to more than $6 billion in the 2012 presidential contest. In New York spending by out-of-state organizations was 15 times higher in 2012
▶Good deed and an attribution, The volunteers at the Friends of the Library shared a story with Louise Broach, author of “Book Friends,” last weeks cover story: “They got a donation this year of an old book that they checked into and learned it was stolen from a library in Poland during World War II when the Nazis looted all the Jewish holdings (art and literature). The library still exists and the book sale staff returned the book to its original place. Isn’t that cool?” If you care to respond to something in this column, or publish your own grievances or plaudits, e-mail editor@ithacatimes.com, with a subject head “Ups & Downs.”
Heard&Seen ▶ Mental Health Day Camp, A KIDS FIRST is a co-ed day camp for children who are experiencing a mental or emotional health issue and/or developmental disability, or who have an immediate family member struggling with such a diagnosis— siblings are also encouraged to participate. For more information and to apply, see the application packet available in PDF on the MHATC website: KIDS FIRST 2016 Application. Please contact MHATC at info@mhaedu.org or (607) 273-9250 to speak with Melanie Little or Pat Vincent with any further questions. ▶ Top Stories on the Ithaca Times website for the week of May 11-17 include: 1) Elder Care | Seniors Want to Live in Their Own Homes 2) Newfield School Vote Coming Up 3) Ithaca’s Loss is T’burg’s Gain 4) Plans for Local Mosque Proceed 5) Big Changes for Aurora and Seneca For these stories and more, visit our website at www.ithaca.com.
L ast Week ’s Q uestion: Are you going to the library book sale ?
53 percent of respondents answered “yes” and 47 percent answered “no”
question OF THE WEEK
Do you know anyone who is addicted to opioids? Please respond at ithaca.com.
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– Keri Blakinger T
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