One of the races that will garner a great deal of attention on primary night is the three-way battle for State Senate District 16 where incumbent State Senator Toby Stavisky will try to hold off a challenge from two Democrats – John Messer and Isaac Sasson – both of whom have sunk a lot of hours and money into the campaign.
Messer and Sasson have run campaigns trumpeting the need to reform Albany and labeling Stavisky, who has represented the district for 11 years after taking over for her late husband who represented the district for 17 in the Senate and 17 in the Assembly, as the poster child for what is wrong with the state government.
“We have had 44 years of Staviskys, four wars and seven presidents ago, it’s time for a change,” Sasson said. “I emphasize that we can blame Albany now, but if we put the people back in office then we only have ourselves to blame.”
Meanwhile, Messer, a lawyer and small business owner who moved to New York 20 years ago, said he has spent the last few months speaking to thousands of residents in the district who are unhappy with the policies and legislation the current elected officials have put into place. Messer said that more needed to be done to create jobs and rein in spending, which would only be a start to changing the entire culture in Albany.
“We haven’t overhauled our system since 1927,” Messer said. “All we have done is create a duplicative system that overlaps each other.”
Stavisky, who was the first woman from Queens elected to the State Senate, said that during the day she is continuing her job as a State Senator “because that’s what I’m supposed to be doing,” but she is meeting with residents and leaders from community groups at night and on weekends to talk about her campaign.
While Stavisky acknowledged that Albany certainly needed a makeover, she said that she has been “recognized as being one of the leaders of the reform group,” citing non-partisan redistricting as one area she has taken a lead on.
Although some candidates will be taking a short break from campaigning to participate in religious services during the Jewish holiday, their supporters will be out trying to drum up last-minute support in what many are predicting to be a low-turnout primary.
“We’re feeling good; we have our feet on the ground,” Messer said. “We’re confident that the people will vote for the right person on September 14.”
