Dean Michael campaigns for New York State Assembly, District 106

NEW YORK STATE — Challenging longtime New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106) in the this year’s election, Republican Dean Michael said he is prepared to address the challenges he feels have affected every aspect of residents’ daily lives, from making the state more affordable and competitive to lowering taxes and stimulating businesses. 

A resident of the nearby town of Clinton, Michael grew up in Dutchess County, where he graduated from Dutchess Community College before continuing his academic career at Marist College and Empire State College. For more than 20 years, he built his career and then become a business owner, operating Action Capital Insurance Agency in Pleasant Valley. On the local level, he has served on the Clinton Town Board for the last 13 years as councilman and was then appointed deputy supervisor for the last four years. 

Considering his private and public sector experience, Michael has chaired various committees, including the Clinton Zoning Revision Committee; has sat on the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency; and has been involved with the Mid-Hudson Mortgage Bankers Association, the Dutchess County Association of Realtors and other committees dealing with insurance issues. He said he has gone to Albany on occasion to lobby for issues important to him, including those dealing with mortgage, financial and real estate matters. 

Based on his local experience in public service, Michael has had the opportunity to observe how changes made to various laws affect communities. Stressing the ripple effect changing legislation can have, he emphasized how important it is to consider the consequences that can come from making such changes.

Regarding his decision to run, Michael said, “Prior to COVID, my priorties were the state is over-regulated, overtaxed — it basically chips away at property rights and it also presses down a lot of the state’s responsibility onto the counties and the local towns.”

In terms of the state being over-regulated, he said he believes the government has put its thumb down on businesses and that Governor Andrew Cuomo “is setting up all these safety precautions so that they can catch things when they go out of bounds or prevent things from going out of bounds.”

In making the state more competitive, Michael underlined the focus on regulations to allow people to start up a business.

Another major issue for Michael is the medical mandate on vaccines. He explained that he had been “fired up” after learning that children would be forced to get the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine without parental consent, which Michael said would be a violation of constitutional rights. He also highlighted his interest in fighting to correct what he called other “injustices” and the need to make New York State more affordable.

Endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Libertarian parties, Michael said in reference to his campaign is progressing, “Under normal years, I would say I feel it’s going pretty good, but this year is a very strange year.”