Republican to Run for Senate Seat He Lost by 18 Votes

Former Republican Assemblyman George Amedore said Monday he is running again for the state Senate seat he narrowly lost two years ago.

Amedore announced his run from a pizza shop in Catskill. He is challenging Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk, the Democrat who beat him by 18 votes in 2012 after a drawn-out battle for the new district, which encompasses parts of Ulster, Greene, Albany, Schenectady and Montgomery counties. During redistricting based on the 2010 census, Republicans drew the district in a way they hoped would help them keep control of the chamber.

Tkaczyk is a former school board vice president from Duanesburg. She won the seat after a court-ordered count of additional ballots. A judge had initially ruled that Amedore had won by 37 of the roughly 126,000 votes cast and a mid-level court ruled that 99 challenged ballots should be counted.

The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and anti-morality activists wasted no time slamming the Republican challenger, claiming his views on women’s rights issues are “extreme” and “anti-women.”

“I’m not an extremist,” Amedore responded. “And to suggest so is disrespectful to my wife, daughter, mother and to all women.”

The race between Amedore and Tkaczyk is expected to be one of most closely watched this year, as Republicans hope to bolster their numbers in the Senate and Democrats try to regain control of the chamber.

The Republicans control the chamber with the help of five breakaway Democrats.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the April 8th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.