Patricia Doxsey is reporting in the Daily Freeman Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner has emerged as an early challenger to state Sen. Sue Serino. Tyner, a Democrat, announced his plan to run for the 41st Senate District seat in a Facebook post on December 3. The 41st Senate District covers all of Dutchess County, except Beekman and Pawling; as well as Kent Phillipstown and Putnam Valley in Putnam County. This will be Tyner's third bid -- he ran unsuccessfully against then-Sen. Stephen Saland in 1996 and 1998. Tyner, 53, was elected last month to his eighth two-year term in the Dutchess County Legislature. Serino, a Republican from Hyde Park, is serving her second two-year term in the state Senate. In an interview with the paper on December 7, Tyner criticized her as beholden to special interests. “She’s not a bad person, she’s not an evil person, but she’s allowed herself to fall into special interests,” he said. Tyner supports a $15 minimum wage by 2020 for companies of 500 employees, or more; single-payer health care; finding a way to reduce the burden of school taxes on property owners; and the legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana for adults. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.