Ian Konrad is reporting for The Legislative Gazette freshman Republican Assemblymember Chris Tague [TAYG] and Democratic challenger Betsy Kraat [KRAHT] are vying for the 102nd Assembly District seat. The district includes Greene and Schoharie counties, and portions of Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Otsego and Ulster counties. After graduating from high school in 1987, Tague ran a dairy business until 1992; from 1992 until 2017, he worked at Cobleskill Stone Products, eventually becoming the company’s general manager. Tague intends to lower taxes, boost agriculture, fight the heroin and opioid epidemic, secure grants for local infrastructure and support those with mental disabilities. He won the seat in a special election called by the governor in April 2018, defeating Greene County Democrat Aidan O’Connor by approximately 160 votes. Aside from campaigning on the promise of boosting the physical infrastructure in the district, he also wants to make sure his constituency has access to broadband. Tague is also campaigning on the idea of expanding agriculture as a way to bolster the district's economy. Kraat has experience as a tenant in public housing, and years of social work under her belt, as well. She became a social worker, she said, to help people in need find assistance and to build sound policy to allow communities to thrive. Endorsed by the Working Families Party, Kraat is running on a progressive platform. She is looking to reform the state’s cannabis policy, increase funding for education, make unionizing and collective bargaining easier, increase funding for public housing and support conversion to green energy and support those with mental disabilities. Kraat plans to win votes by focusing on health and housing issues. These are issues that affect multiple communities in the Catskills, she says. Kraat believes her firsthand knowledge and experience around the issues gives her an advantage. She is pushing to reform health care, by supporting the New York Health Act and increased funding for mental health care and student loan forgiveness for rural medical workers. According to the most recent state Board of Elections numbers, the 102nd Assembly District has roughly 29,000 active Republican voters, 25,000 active Democrats and 21,000 unaffiliated, or independent voters. Read the full story in The Legislative Gazette.