The Fray: Ryan, Molinaro vow to join lawsuit against EPA over Hudson cleanup

Oct. 19--County executives from across the aisle and across the Hudson River announced this month that their counties -- Ulster and Dutchess -- will file a supporting brief in the state's lawsuit demanding the federal government order more PCB dredging in the Hudson.

State Attorney General Letitia James brought the case against the Environmental Protection Agency to contest its approval of General Electric's removal of river muck laden with tons of toxic PCBs that GE's factory dumped into the river long ago. State officials, environmental groups and others have denounced the EPA's "certification of completion," contending that too much contamination remains and the company must continue its dredging.

That stance found bipartisan support from Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, a Democrat, and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican. They dramatized that alliance this month by meeting on the Walkway Over the Hudson, a pedestrian bridge over the Hudson that connects their two counties, and announcing they will file an amicus brief siding with the state against the EPA.

"The fight to protect our Hudson River started the modern environmental movement," Ryan said in a statement. "Today we are coming together as two counties to continue that fight. We can't let General Electric off the hook for the mess they made of our precious Hudson River."

Molinaro, who was the Republican candidate for governor in 2018, said: "For generations, communities on both sides of the river have relied on it for drinking water, fishing, recreation, tourism and commerce. Our communities have proudly shared the responsibility to care, advocate and fight for this piece of our home and way of life. Today, we are once again coming together and vowing to take every step we can to hold the EPA and polluters accountable."

James, who filed her federal lawsuit in August, thanked the two county executives in their press release and said, "GE and the EPA are either in denial or simply don't care about how dangerous the PCBs in the Hudson River truly are, and the threat they pose to public health."

Delgado campaign reports $1.5M on hand after strong 3Q

Rep. Antonio Delgado raised $636,000 in the third quarter and had more than $1.5 million in his campaign account as of Sept. 30, a giant lead for the freshman Democrat in a district that Trump won by seven points in 2016 and Republicans have targeted as a 2020 pickup opportunity.

Of the three Republicans who announced campaigns for New York's 19th Congressional District, Anthony German raised the most during those three months -- $50,000. Ola Hawatmeh reported raising $5,000, and Michael Roth reported no income.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a fourth-term Democrat from Cold Spring, raised $268,000 in the third quarter and had a $425,000 balance at the end. Chele Chiavacci Farley, the Republican planning to challenge Maloney next year for the 18th District, reported $150,000 in donations and a $52,000 in-kind contribution from herself to her campaign, leaving her with $239,000 on hand.

GOP candidate enters race to take on Metzger in 2020

The former owner of a local school-bus company plans to challenge state Sen. Jen Metzger for the 42nd Senate District seat next year.

Mike Martucci, of Wawayanda, opened a campaign fundraising committee for the seat on Thursday. He wasn't enrolled in either political party until January, when he changed his voter registration to become a Republican, Orange County voting records show. Metzger is a Democrat and is serving her first term in the Senate.

Martucci, 34, founded Quality Bus Services in 2008 and built it from a single bus serving Greenwood Lake School District to a company with 500 employees and 350 buses, according to an online biography. He sold the business last year.

Metzger, a former Rosendale councilwoman and director of the nonprofit Citizens for Local Power, beat Orange County Clerk Annie Rabbitt a year ago to win a seat that Republican John Bonacic held for 20 years until his retirement in 2018. The 42nd District takes in all of Sullivan County and parts of Orange, Ulster and Delaware counties.

Metzger's campaign noticed Martucci's filing and emailed supporters for contributions on Friday morning, warning that Republicans will spend big to try to win back the Senate control they lost in 2018. The message noted that Metzger doesn't accept "corporate or lobbyist money," and relies on donations from "good people like you."

Poll finds 49% support for impeachment in upstate NY

A Siena College poll released Tuesday found that 49 percent of upstate New York voters support impeaching President Donald Trump and removing him from office, with 43 percent in opposition and 8 percent undecided.

Statewide, the split on removal was 55-38 percent, a 17-point spread widened by support in heavily Democratic New York City. Suburban voters were almost evenly divided at 47 percent in favor and 48 percent against.

Views diverged sharply along party lines across the state: 79 percent of Democrats favored removal and 81 percent of Republicans opposed it. Slightly more independent voters were for than against, at 49-47 percent.

Siena surveyed 742 New York voters from Oct. 6-10, in the midst of the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry and ongoing coverage of the controversy that fueled it, involving Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The poll's margin of error was 4.3 percent.

Majorities of voters throughout the state felt the Ukraine matter justified the inquiry. The divide on that question in the Siena poll was 62-34 percent statewide, 52-46 percent in the suburbs, and 59-38 percent upstate.

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