More people voted for U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, on the Conservative line than there are registered Conservatives in the 21st Congressional District.
Stefanik received 17,984 votes on the Conservative line, according to certified results.
There were 10,387 active enrolled Conservatives in the district, as of Nov. 1, according to the state Board of Elections.
Democratic candidate Matt Castelli received 3,776 votes on the Moderate line, an independent ballot line his campaign established in an attempt to attract votes from Republicans and independents.
More voters selected what are essentially none-of-the-above options.
There were 4,771 voters that cast ballots in the election but did not vote in the congressional race.
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There were 95 write-in votes.
According to certified results, Stefanik received 168,579 votes, or 58.2% of the total vote, which includes those who cast a ballot but did not vote in the congressional race.
Castelli, a former CIA counterterrorism official who lives in Glens Falls, received 116,421 votes, or 40.2% of the vote.
Office on the move
State Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-Horicon, will relocate his district office in February from downtown Glens Falls to the plaza on South Western Avenue near the Cool Beans coffee shop in Queensbury, just outside the border with Glens Falls.
The move is necessary because Glens Falls, where the office is now located, was removed from the 114th District in the once-a-decade redistricting process.
Glens Falls is in the new 113th Assembly District, which Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, will represent.
Simpson, in a recent telephone interview, said the new location will be easy to get to from Exit 18 of the Northway, and has ample public parking.
A state court earlier this year ruled the Legislature did not follow proper procedure in the Assembly redistricting process.
The court allowed the maps to be used for the 2022 election, but ordered new maps for the 2024 election.
A proposed redistricting plan for 2024 places Glens Falls back in the 114th Assembly District.
Simpson said his office on the Queensbury side of South Western Avenue, the border line with Glens Falls, is ideally located if the city is added back to the district.
“It’s as close as I can be to Glens Falls and still be in Queensbury,” he said in a telephone interview.
‘America the Beautiful’
New York’s joining of President Biden’s “America the Beautiful” initiative could lead to increased conservation of land in the Adirondack Park, said John Sheehan, a spokesman for The Adirondack Council, an environmental organization.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Dec. 23 signed legislation for New York to join the initiative by setting a goal to conserve at least 30% of the state’s land and water by 2030.
“New Yorkers rely on our clean water for recreation, forests to provide wildlife habitats, and the outdoor spaces for jobs and adventures,” Hochul said in a news release.
The legislation also requires the state Department of Conservation and state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to develop a plan to achieve that goal.
“The Adirondacks and Catskills together comprise only 22 percent of New York. Neither is fully protected,” Sheehan said, responding to a question from The Post-Star. ”More forests will require protection measures all over the state.”
BackRoads PAC
The BackRoads political action committee, which former local congressional candidate Tedra Cobb established to assist congressional candidates in rural areas, was 3-for-8 in its first round of political action results.
Much of its nearly half-million dollars in contributions was eaten up in operating expenses.
The PAC directly contributed $16,500 to seven congressional candidates in New York, Kansas, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and one state Senate candidate in California, according to a post-election report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Candidates the PAC supported which won their elections were Pat Ryan in New York’s 18th District, incumbent Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Ohio, and incumbent Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pennsylvania.
Elsewhere in New York, the PAC contributed to Democrat Josh Riley, who lost in the 19th District, and Democrat Jackie Gordon, who lost in 2nd District.
The PAC did not contribute to the campaign of Democratic candidate Matt Castelli in the 21st District.
However, Castelli’s campaign contributed $250 to the PAC in October.
Cobb, a former St. Lawrence County legislator, was the Democratic candidate in the 21st District in 2018 and 2020, losing both times to Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville.
The PAC had $29,086 in its fund, as Nov. 28, to start the next election cycle.
Budget votes
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, voted against the $1.7 billion budget bill, which passed the House on Dec. 23, averting a government shutdown.
“Lame Duck Democrats doubled down on their radical wish list that spends nearly 2 trillion taxpayer dollars to expand their radical agenda,” Stefanik said in a news release.
Stefanik specifically criticized $10 million in funding for legal aid for undocumented immigrants.
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, voted in support of the legislation.
“I’m proud to vote for this legislation that works to drive innovation, support our most vulnerable communities, create good jobs, address the disease of addiction and so much more,” he said in a news release.
Tonko said the budget bill includes legislation he introduced to eliminate redundancy in the process for physicians to be licensed to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat substance abuse disorder.
Staying put
Longtime Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava had planned to retire after the first of the year.
Now, he has delayed his retirement indefinitely until a plan is finalized to reuse the former Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Mineville, which closed in March, Scozzafava said in a recent telephone interview.
“There are probably some down in Albany (at the state Capitol) that would like to get rid of me, but I’m not going anywhere,” the Republican quipped.
Maury Thompson covered local government and politics for The Post-Star for 21 years before he retired in 2017. He continues to follow regional politics as a freelance writer.
