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District 12: Onorato vs. Dooley

Senator George Onorato will look to win reelection in the 12th Senate District, but he will have a challenger in retired New York City firefighter and Gulf War veteran Republican Tom Dooley.
Throughout his 25-year Senate career, Onorato has been a strong advocate for New York’s working families, consumers, senior citizens, veterans and young people. In addition, Onorato served as a member of the Senate Minority Task Force on Legislative and Government Reform as well as championing efforts to make New York State government operations more open and accountable to the public.
He believes that his experience working in the Senate and the relationships he has developed locally in the community are clear advantages over his opponent.
“Absolutely, he [Dooley] has never had any public office and to my knowledge I have never seen him at any civic associations,” Onorato said.
Dooley, who is a lifelong Queens resident, believes that during Onorato’s tenure only a small percentage of the district receives enough attention saying that Onorato only focuses on Astoria while neglecting parts of Woodside, Long Island City and Ridgewood that also fall in the district.
In addition, Dooley believes that voters are looking for a change from just the same people running for office and the same people pulling the strings behind the scenes.
“We need a choice because one party has been controlling all of the politics in this area of Queens for my whole lifetime,” Dooley said.
Onorato believes that the most important issue to the voters is the poor economy - he called it the most serious economic crisis since he has been in office.
“We have to see what we can do statewide to see what we can do to assist them,” Onorato said.
Dooley believes that the western Queens area - like other areas throughout the borough, city and state - are losing companies and jobs to other areas. He believes that there needs to be lower taxes and incentives to keep many of these jobs in Queens.
“I will try my very best to lower taxes on small businesses and make their life a little easier,” Dooley said.
Onorato also mentioned the importance of cleaning up Newtown Creek and stopping Con Ed from raising rates on consumers and businesses. Although Queens is heavily Democratic, Onorato said he has still been going to club meetings and talking to constituents prior to the election.
“I’m not overconfident, you never take anything for granted especially in a presidential year,” Onorato said. “I’m banking on my recognition in the community for 25 years.”