News - Race for 112th Assembly District gets underway

Jordan, of Jackson, Washington County, decided to run for the assembly district on Friday, June 27 after McDonald announced his intentions to run for state Senate. He collected more than 2,000 signatures and submitted them to the Board of Elections on Thursday, July 10 – his petition was certified by the Board of Elections on Tuesday.

“When my wife and I sat down to talk about my intentions to run we thought about how great our parents were as teachers to us,” Jordan said. “We want to be good teachers to our children as well, so I want my kids to be able to look back someday and say ‘my dad was given an opportunity to make a difference at a difficult time for our state and he answered that call.”

The 43-year-old is a former assistant Washington County district attorney and a partner in the Greenwich based law-firm Jordan and Kelly L.L.C.

Jordan made his formal announcement to run for the position in Wilton’s Gavin Park on Tuesday, June 15. Since then he has received several substantial endorsements from the likes of Saratoga County Republican Chairman Jasper Nolan, Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, Senator Betty Little and current district Assemblyman Roy McDonald.

“Tony Jordan is an outstanding candidate who brings experience as a lawyer and a family background in farming – a quality that is crucial to being a successful Assemblyman in the 112th District,” Nolan said. “He understands the importance of working with other parties and he is poised to become one of the great new leaders of the region.”

Nolan added that Jordan is well-known in Washington County and the strong Republican support present in both Saratoga and Rensselaer County should give him an excellent chance at winning the district.

Jordan intends to focus his campaign on his ability to work across party lines, reducing property taxes, gas taxes, and home heating fuel costs, which he feels will create difficult times for many people this winter.

“It is getting to a point where people on fixed incomes are going to have to face some difficult choices this winter,” he said.

Jordan noted that he is well-known in Washington County, but his biggest challenge is going to be getting out and meeting the people of Saratoga and Rensselaer County.

“I am really looking forward to getting out and gaining a better understanding for what the issues are that face people in Saratoga and Rensselaer County,” he said.

Although Jordan is the front-runner to earn the Republican nomination he may have to first win a primary against Northumberland businessman and former Wilton town GOP chairman Chris

Lainge, who has stated that he intends to run against Jordan because he was hand picked by the party chairman’s of each County.

If Jordan is able to survive a primary against Lainge, he would then be contested by local businessman and second term Wilton Town Board member Ian McGaughey in the General Election.

McGaughey is concerned with many of the same issues that face the citizens of the 112th assembly district as Jordan is. He too looks to reach across party lines, address home heating fuels and combat rising property taxes, which he intends too tackle on day one. In order to curtail out of control property taxes, McGaughey intends to enact a property tax “circuit breaker,” which would provide tax relief for people with low to middle incomes.

“I really think that New York is in need of a new direction,” he said. “Property taxes are out of control and the fact that home heating fuel has doubled over the course of the last year creates a looming crisis that may force people to decide between groceries and fuel this winter.”

McGaughey will face strong opposition in the district considering that the Republican laced region has 39,373 registered Republicans and only 21,712 registered Democrats in the district.

“If the election was going to be an easy one to win everyone would be running,” he said. “I have a history of being the underdog having won two consecutive Wilton Town Board elections and I intend to do it again.”

McGaughey picked up the endorsement of the Independence Party on Monday. The party represents 4,267 registered voters in the district.

“I have been the only Democrat on the Wilton Town Board for the past two administrations and I have a proven record of working across party lines,” he said. “Bipartisanship is something needed in Albany especially when the partisan is not acting in the public’s best interest.”