DUTCHESS COUNTY — It’s only June and candidate campaign signs crowd the corners and front lawns of the Village of Millerton and Town of North East. On Tuesday, June 20, the hotly contested village election for the mayor and two village board trustees will occur.
The following Tuesday, June 27, will see a Democratic primary for Dutchess County Legislature to select a candidate to run against Republican Gregg Pulver from Pine Plains, representing the 19th county legislative district.
Village registered voters will be going to the Village Hall to vote on the mayor and trustees on June 20, and town and village voters who are registered Democrats will vote the next week in their primary for either Chris Drago or Claire Owens to appear on the ballot in the general election for the county legislature.
All the members of Democratic committees in each town met at the Dutchess County Democratic Nominating Convention in Poughkeepsie on Feb. 23 to select candidates for county offices — the county district attorney, family court judge and legislators from the county’s 25 districts. The Democrats from the Town of North East selected Claire Owens, but Pine Plains, Milan and Stanford committees chose Chris Drago.
Owens, a resident of Millerton, had sufficient signatures to appear on the Democratic ballot and is running against newcomer Drago in the primary. In the last legislative election two years ago, she ran as the Democratic candidate against incumbent Republican Pulver and received 1,609 of the 3,533 votes cast.
Talking to The Millerton News, she expressed confidence that she can close the gap and win. She is focusing her campaign outreach on social media, and door-to-door retail politics.
“Our district in Dutchess County has the same challenges now that it had two years ago,” Owens said. “We still need solutions to affordable housing, public transportation and support for education. Under the Republican-controlled legislature, nothing has been debated, nothing has happened—except of course for the $25 million sky box in the new stadium.”
Regardless of the primary outcome, Owens will appear on the ballot as the choice of the Working Families Party, whose endorsement Drago also sought.
Newcomer Drago is a senior digital marketing executive who lives in the Town of Stanford with his partner, Eric.
“I’m running because entrenched Republican leadership has been spending our tax money on the wrong things, while basic needs of Northern Dutchess communities are not being met,” said Drago. “We need reliable and consistent emergency services, expanded mental health services, and to increase the affordability of Dutchess County so that things aren’t too expensive for folks that live and work here.
“Instead of spending $25 million on a stadium, we need to invest in climate-ready infrastructure and youth programming. Northern Dutchess needs a strong candidate with deep ties in our district to beat incumbent Gregg Pulver in November, and I believe I’m that candidate.
“I grew up here, went to school here at Millbrook School and Vassar College, my family lives here. I’m deeply concerned about how our tax dollars have been managed by Majority Leader Pulver and the Republican supermajority in our County Legislature, and I’m running to bring new leadership to Northern Dutchess District 19.”
The cost of primary elections — like all town, county, state and federal elections — is borne by the Dutchess County Board of Elections, which manages the election process. The expense of any village election is paid for by each village.
