Brabenec faces newcomer Martens in 98th Assembly

Oct. 27--Republican Assemblyman Karl Brabenec won a vacant 98th Assembly District seat in a three-way race in 2014 and is now a two-term incumbent, touting his office's faithful constituent service and his steadfast opposition to tax increases as he seeks a third term in Albany.

The Democrat running to unseat him is Scott Martens, a carpenter from Minisink who helped wage opposition to the new power plant in Wawayanda and has pivoted from activist to candidate with determination, saying he has knocked on more than 2,000 doors to listen to voters in Orange and Rockland counties.

Martens, an Orange County native making his first run for elected office, touts the problem-solving skills he regularly uses to renovate and rehabilitate homes, saying that same ability would make him a good legislator. And what he lacks in political experience and campaign funding, he says he makes up for in hard work and an open-mindedness that would allow him to bridge conservative and progressive views.

"I might not have big, huge signs with my face plastered on them," he said. "But I do have the people's support."

Brabenec, who was Deerpark town supervisor before being elected to the Assembly, rattles off his own reasons to be re-elected, saying he is always accessible, has been recognized for his farmer-friendly votes, and has a consistent voting record on taxes: 110 votes against raising them and 40 votes for cutting them. Plus, he and his staff have helped more than 1,200 constituents navigate state and county agencies.

His top priority if re-elected: a longstanding bill that would give school districts the option to request to replace their property-tax levies with state funding, among other provisions.

"That is probably the number one problem I hear about from people -- the high property taxes," he said. "They can't wait to retire and leave."

There are stark policy differences. Martens would vote to legalize recreational marijuana if the Legislature takes up that issue next year, and Brabenec would not. Brabenec has voted against the Reproductive Health Act, a bill that would codify abortion rights, and Martens would vote for it. Martens supports a bill to create a single-payer public health insurance system in New York; Brabenec strongly opposes it.

Martens argues that having a Republican representative in a Democratic-dominated chamber has put the 98th District at a disadvantage.

"He's been our assemblyman for four years, and he's done very, very little," Martens said of Brabenec.

Brabenec counters by noting the grants Assembly leaders have let him distribute to local governments in his district. He also argued that Assembly Republicans, outnumbered more than 2-to-1 by Democrats, serve an important function in the Assembly by generating reform ideas that he thinks eventually have an impact.

Martens criticized Brabenec's voting record on environmental issues, noting his low scores on annual report cards by the New York League of Conservation Voters and Environmental Advocates. Both groups graded Brabenec at about 54 percent for 2017 and 2018 for his votes on bills they either supported or opposed.

Brabenec responded that the bills those groups favor tend be "very partisan" and would create new regulations or restrictions that he opposes, and that he thinks would drive away small businesses. He also noted that he has voted each year for additional funding for the state's environmental protection fund.

"There has to be a balance," he said.

The 98th Assembly District consists of the towns of Deerpark, Greenville, Minisink, Warwick, Monroe and Tuxedo, and the city of Port Jervis in Orange County, and part of the Town of Ramapo in Rockland.

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