Paul Kirby is reporting for the Daily Freeman Democrat Nick Chase is challenging Incumbent GOP state Assemblymember Chris Tague in the upcoming 102nd Assembly District election in November. Tague was first elected to the state legislature in 2018, and his name will appear on the Republican and Conservative lines while Chase will be on the Democratic line. Chase, 21, grew up on a small farm in Delaware County and went on to study political science at Hartwick College. He has now chosen to pause his education and took a job at the Schenevus Central School District as a long-term substitute teacher. He is currently teaching high school English. After two years, he said his time in the schools inspired him to run for office. Chase puts education, agriculture, the economy, energy, and gun control, among other issues, at the top of his priorities. “Energy, particularly methods of energy production, will be a rising issue in the coming years in state government,” Chase said on his campaign website. “If we want to adapt, our state needs to go green.” On guns, he said, better control is needed. “Gun violence is at an all time high in our country. A majority of gun owners would never even think of doing harm to innocent people. This is why we need to focus more on promising these regulations are not punitive to gun owners, while ensuring ill-minded people who wish to do us harm are not able to have access to guns.” Tague, 53, was first elected to the Assembly in April 2018, and then reelected to serve a full term that November. He was most recently re-elected in 2020. He resides in Schoharie where he has lived his entire life. He attended Schoharie Central School, graduating in 1987. After graduation, Tague started his own dairy farm before moving on to Cobleskill Stone Products. Tague’s government web page said he has focused on expanding access to broadband internet, COVID-19 recovery, reducing taxes, providing support for local farmers, and fixing upstate’s failing infrastructure. Tague is also “invested in many social issues like combating the heroin epidemic, which he has addressed during his time as Town Supervisor and Assemblyman, and the protection and support of our firefighters, EMS, and first responders.” Other important issues to Tague are taxes, agriculture, dealing with developmental disability issues, and economic development. Voting begins Oct. 29 and ends Nov. 8. The new 102nd Assembly District encompasses the town of Shandaken in Ulster County, all of Greene and Schoharie counties, and parts of Delaware, Albany, and Otsego counties. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.