Having lost a New York state Senate bid by a razor-thin margin two years ago, Monroe town councilwoman Dorey Houle said she had come back for a rematch better prepared.
She started early this time, almost right after the conclusion of the 2022 election, with more fundraising tools at her disposal, including a new taxpayer-supported smaller donor matching funds program.
A Republican, Ms. Houle is running against Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis in the 42nd District, which encompasses all of Orange County except for the Newburgh and Montgomery areas.
“We only had five months to prepare,” Ms. Houle told The Epoch Times, referring to her being called to join the race following the sudden exit by former Republican state Sen. Mike Martucci.
“Putting together a campaign team, fundraising, and knocking on doors—that was a lot to do in those five months, and we came so close.”
After a holiday vacation in Florida, Ms. Houle returned to New York last January with her mind made up about running again in 2024, a presidential election year.
“It is going to be a challenging campaign, but the good thing is that the issues that are problematic for New York state are the same issues that are problematic for the country, so we are going to be able to tie all of those things together,” she said.
Meanwhile, she and her team paid close attention to a new public campaign finance program enacted by a 2020 law, which will be implemented for the first time in the 2024 state legislative office races.
Designed to multiply the voice of small donors in political campaigns, the taxpayer-funded state program will match small donations between $5 and $250 by up to 12 times.
For a state Senate candidate such as Ms. Houle, up to $375,000 can be awarded in public matching funds.
Last spring, as soon as $25 million was earmarked for the public campaign matching funds program in the state budget, Ms. Houle’s team sprang into action.
At least $12,000 must be raised from a minimum of 150 small donors living in her senatorial district for her to qualify for the funds, and as of Jan. 22, her campaign was only a few hundred dollars short of the threshold.
“We are so close that I can taste it,” she said.
As of Jan. 16, Mr. Skoufis had a $1.2 million balance in his state Senate campaign coffers, according to public data published by the New York State Board of Elections.
2024 Campaign Platform
Ms. Houle runs on the same platform of public safety, affordability, and balanced development as last time, with a new focus on mental health.“In talking with people throughout the last campaign and 2023, mental health has stood out as an enormous problem in Orange County, the Hudson Valley, and the New York state,” she said.
“One mom shared a story of how she struggled to find services for her daughter—she called every number that was given to her,” she said, adding that she had been working with local organizations in her current capacity as town councilwoman to tackle the issue.
A mother of five, Ms. Houle worked as a college sign language lecturer and served as Monroe village trustee before being elected town councilwoman in 2021.
Her police officer husband, Anthony Houle, manages her state Senate campaign.
“2024 is going to be an energetic year,” said Assemblyman Karl Brabenec (R-District 98), who is also the first vice chairman of the Orange County Republican Committee.
“I think we have a good shot of picking up some seats in the state Assembly and Senate and maybe even breaking the Democratic supermajorities,” he said. “And I do believe we have a good shot of taking back the White House, and we may take back the [U.S.] Senate too.”
“It is not a red wave that we need,” Alison Esposito, a Republican contender for the 18th Congressional District, said at the grand opening of Ms. Dorey’s campaign office on Jan. 20, “It is a common-sense wave that we need; it is a red, white, and blue wave that we need.”
Ms. Esposito was Lee Zeldin’s running mate in the last New York governor race, in which the Republican duo pulled off an impressive offense despite losing the bid.
“We will do it this year, top of the ticket down, and it is going to take every single one of us,” Ms. Esposito said to a crowd at Ms. Dorey’s campaign office. “This is about talking to your friends, your co-workers, your colleagues, your family, and Jenny down the block that you don’t like.
“It is time we start talking again.”
