State Senate candidates emerge at Progressive Dems meeting

Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci surprised a group of Progressive Democrats last night by indicating that he will run for the New York State Senate in the 38th District, which includes all of Rockland County and the Orange County towns of Warwick and Tuxedo.

Carlucci joins Grant Valentine, a senior New York State Parole Board officer, and a former Republican, who announced his candidacy last month. No other candidate has emerged, but Tuxedo Town Supervisor Peter Dolan has also indicated some interest in running for the Senate post.

I called for the meeting of the Rockland Progressive Democratic Caucus (Progressive Dems) last month when no clear picture of the State Senate race had emerged. Incumbent Republican Thomas Morahan has not indicated whether he will run for another term and sources tell me that Republican Rockland County Legislator Ed Day is considering his own run for the Senate District. Morahan has recently dealt with health issues, but he's been notably active in his job since returning to work.

Acknowledging that two or more candidates for the State Senate job might mean a Democratic primary for the nomination, some in attendance believed that a primary would be costly and would not help the candidate who emerged as the Democratic nominee in the long run. Others disagreed and indicated that the Democratic Party is "the party of primaries" and welcomed a preliminary race between several candidates.

For their part, both Carlucci and Valentine indicated that a primary might not be necessary. Valentine said he was optimistic that an informal vetting process by party members before a primary would disclose a front runner. Both Carlucci and Valentine indicated that they would support whoever would be the eventual nominee.

Both candidates said that they believe that Albany was broken. Valentine indicated that he's seen problems at many different levels in his nearly three decades as a civil servant. Carlucci said that the State Senate had particular problems that hampered its functionality. He further indicated that he would support legislation for fair, non-partisan redistricting and many other reform measures to help fix what he feels is a broken State Senate.

Morahan, should he decide to run again, remains an entrenched incumbent and Carlucci further indicated that he would be running more against the abysmal record of the State Senate body.

This blog is cross-posted at The Albany Project.