State Senator James Skoufis is gearing up for a rematch against Republican Dorey Houle in his bid for a fourth two-year term. Skoufis, a Democrat from Cornwall, defeated Houle by fewer than than 1,500 votes in 2022, but he largely attributes that to redistricting at the time.
“I was in many ways introducing myself to a large majority of voters in western Orange County and Warwick and Middletown," Skoufis explains. "I’ve now had two years for people to get to know my style of representation, my aggressiveness in representing our communities, and most importantly, delivering for our communities.”
Skoufis touts expanding universal pre-K, maintaining school funding, and appointing a state monitor to the Orange County Industrial Development Agency as some of his top accomplishments this term.
But if you ask Houle, a councilwoman on the Monroe town board, not much has changed since her last run.
“I am campaigning on the same points," says Houle. "As a matter of fact, not only did they not follow through on their promises, they made it worse.”
This time around, Houle is not challenging Skoufis alone. Timothy Jon Mitts, a landlord in Monroe, is running on the Conservative Party line after surprising Houle in the primary in June.
“I don't owe anyone, whatsoever, anything" says Mitts. "I'm in [this race] because I want to be in it, not because I have to be in it."
Mitts says his run is largely inspired by his ongoing litigation against the town of Monroe. He’s part of a group of landlords who sued the town in federal court last year over a local law that, among other things, limited the number of rental properties a person can own. Mitts says the law violated his constitutional rights, and while the board revised it earlier this year, he and his co-plaintiffs are still pushing for a trial and $7 million in damages.
“We’ve always an issue with the town of Monroe since 2016, politically, and I just think it was time to change the environment," he adds. "And what better way to change it than at the state level.”
If elected, Mitts says he would focus on water quality, sewer infrastructure, and “stopping those who abuse our constitutional rights.” He opposes calls to merge the town and village of Woodbury, and like Houle, he also opposes Proposition One, a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, and more. Some Republican and Conservative candidates have falsely claimed that Prop One would threaten girls’ sports teams or encourage transgender youth to seek gender-affirming care without their parents’ consent.
Asked if she’s worried about Mitts pulling votes from her, Houle says she is. But while Mitts won June’s primary, Houle maintains she’s the real conservative candidate.
“The New York State Conservative Party is endorsing Dorey Houle for state Senate, and the Orange County Conservative Committee is also endorsing Dorey Houle for state Senate," she explains.
"For the Conservative leadership to ignore the people’s choice is to say you don’t care about the vote," Mitts responds. "And I think that’s a problem.”
A self-described “cop’s wife,” Houle says her first priority as senator would be to completely repeal New York’s bail and discovery reform laws, which have been revised multiple times since passing in 2019. Houle argues that a lot of the Hudson Valley’s issues boil down to public safety. She says scrapping the laws entirely would lower crime, encourage business, and boost tourism.
“People are staying away from New York State and New York City because it’s unsafe," Houle notes. "So we need to improve public safety so we can improve tourism. If we improve tourism the tourists are going to spend money. We’re going to collect sales tax on that.”
Houle also wants to repeal the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and has billed herself as the candidate who would be “tough on illegal immigration.” Houle claims the migrant crisis is draining resources in the Hudson Valley, and says the state should stop sending money to help the influx of asylum seekers in New York City.
Skoufis agrees that the migrant crisis is a serious issue — but not one of New York’s making.
“This is a repercussion of the issues that are faced on the southern border. And the last time I checked, New York does not border Mexico," says Skoufis. "She is characteristically fear mongering, it’s so transparently obvious. But if she really wants to deal with the migrant crisis, go run for Congress. Why are you running for state legislature?”
Skoufis says his record speaks for itself. His office passed almost 90 bills this year. He says his biggest concern looking into the next term is maintaining the current level of school funding in the next state budget, after New York Governor Kathy Hochul unsuccessfully tried cutting a “hold harmless” provision in Foundation Aid this year.
He’s also worried about the potential revival of congestion pricing: Hochul has said she will propose a new version of the failed Metropolitan Transportation Authority toll for drivers entering lower Manhattan around the end of the year.
“I’m going to be doing my best to protect Orange County from any new or revisited onerous MTA fees or tolls or tax hikes," he adds. "We already pay way more than we get out of the MTA here in Orange County."
Election Day is November 5.
