Assemblyman Al Stirpe (left), a Democrat, is facing challenges to his seat from Republicans Donald Miller (center) and Sandra Schepp (right).
A Clay businessman and a Manlius town councilor are the likely challengers to Democratic incumbent Al Stirpe for the state’s 121st Assembly District in 2010.
Donald Miller is the businessman from Clay. He has the nomination from the Onondaga County Republican Party and of the executive committee of the county’s Conservative Party. He beat Sandra Schepp, the town councilor from Manlius, for the county GOP nomination. As of early April, Schepp had not declared whether she will force a primary for the Republican nomination.
Stirpe, the incumbent, is facing no Democratic challengers. Stirpe first won the Assembly seat in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008.
The primaries will be Sep. 14, 2010. The general election will be Nov. 2, 2010.
The 121st Assembly District includes Clay, Cicero, Manlius, Pompey and LaFayette. It’s almost evenly balanced between Republicans and Democrats. Of 91,820 registered voters, Republicans have 35 percent, Democrats 31 percent, Independence Party 5 percent and those unaffiliated with a political party are 26 percent.
The Assembly has 150 members who serve two-year terms. Democrats have a supermajority with 106 seats to the 42 held by Republicans. The Democrats have controlled the Assembly since 1975.All 150 State Assembly seats will be up for re-election this November.
Here’s an early look at the likely candidates:
Al Stirpe (Democrat, incumbent)
Al Stirpe, 57, has lived in the 121st Assembly District for more than 25 years. In the Assembly, he is now the chair of the subcommittee on export trade. He is also a member of the committees on agriculture, economic development, higher education and small business.
Stripe is the former president of an independent software company, Qube Software, and a former financial analyst at General Electric. He is now, in his own words, a “full-time legislator.”
In his re-election campaign, Stirpe is pushing for more financial aid for college and for what he calls “green-collar jobs” in Central New York. Those green-collar jobs, he said, would help improve the environment, bring federal money into Central New York and help cut American dependency on foreign oil.
“We don’t have to wait for Washington to figure out how to end our dependency on foreign oil or restart our economy,” said Stirpe in an interview. “We can start right here in Central New York. We have the resources and the know-how.”
Since his re-election in 2008, Stirpe has given out more than $480,000 in member items to Central New York organizations. Member items are funds allocated from the state budget and distributed by legislators within their own districts. Since 2008, some highlights of Stirpe’s include:
- $3,000 to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
- $5,000 each to the Town of Cicero Historical Society, Pompeii Volunteer Fire Department and North Area Meals on Wheels, Inc.
- $8,000 to the Fayetteville Free Library
- $10,000 to both the North Syracuse School District and Crouse Hospital
- $15,000 each to Syracuse University, CENTRO and Onondaga/Cortland/Madison County BOCES School Library
- $20,000 to the North Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
Raising the amount of state federal aid Central New York higher-education institutions receive is another campaign goal, said Stirpe. “We want our SUNY system to be the flagship standard against which all other state education systems are compared,” said Stirpe. “It’s a mark of pride to have a system like SUNY, and I will continue to make sure the system has as much funding and resources as it needs.”
Stirpe was born in Clyde, N.Y., and lives in Lisi Gardens, North Syracuse, with his wife Chele and three children, Alexandra, 13; Chris, 25; and Jesseca, 22. The Stirpes founded the Syracuse-based organization, Familycapped — a non-profit organization that provides support to parents who have children with disabilities. Chele’s daughter, Jesseca, is disabled.
Donald Miller (Republican, challenger)
Donald Miller, 44, has never run for public office. But he has 25 years of political experience as a strategist, manager and professor.
Despite his years working behind the scenes in politics, Miller said in an interview, he is “not a career politician.” But, he said, “The current state of affairs here troubles me.” He added, “I just want my kids to be able to get a good education, a good job and eventually raise their own children here Central New York.”
Miller was born and raised in Central New York, but spent most of his working life around the country and abroad. He is a graduate of Liverpool High School and SUNY-Buffalo. He now lives in Clay and works as a quality manager for Jadak Technologies, an international data-collection firm in North Syracuse.
In his challenge to Stirpe, Miller calls for lower taxes, more personal freedoms, and what he describes as increased transparency and accountability in state politics. He proposes to cut state spending and encourage business by decreasing state regulation.
“The high taxes, exhausting regulation and unbelievable bureaucracy in New York have absolutely run amok,” said Miller. “We’re in serious trouble.”
The “politics as usual in Albany,” Miller said, are hurting ordinary taxpayers and not responding to their needs.“We want to encourage people to do business in New York, but the current tax levels, bureaucratic hoops and oppressive regulations are encouraging business to take their business and their jobs somewhere else,” said Miller.
From 1997-2005, Miller taught the foundations and intricacies of marketing, economics, jury trials, government, law and business to university students in the People’s Republic of China. He was also an unofficial lecturer to senior leaders in the Communist Party, said Miller.
On his political resume, Miller lists working in seven states and Washington, D.C., on the campaigns of district attorneys, state assemblymen, U.S. representatives, U.S. senators, a governor, county executives, judges and a sheriff. His most recent campaign work was in 2008 when he was campaign manager for two successful district attorney races in Colorado.
Miller has also worked as a scheduler for the Jack Kemp as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the George H.W. Bush administration; the incumbency director for former U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa; and the communications director for former Rensselaer County Executive, Henry Zwack.
“I’ve done the ‘politics thing,’ but now I’m just looking for some much needed change here in the area I call home,” said Miller. “I’m in this for my community and my kids, not politics.”
Chairman John DeSpirito of the Onondaga County GOP calls Miller the “right guy for the job.” He cited Miller’s international teaching experience, his years of work in state and national politics and his roots in Central New York.
“We need someone in Albany who understands the needs of our district, especially during difficult economic times like these,” said DeSpirito in an interview. “We believe that man is Donald Miller.”
Sandra Schepp (Republican, challenger)
In mid-March, Sandra Schepp, a Manlius town councilor, announced that she would also seek the Republican nomination to challenge Stirpe. She lost the county party’s nomination to Miller. By mid-April, she had not declared whether she will seek a primary to win the nomination.
Schepp did not respond to nine requests for an interview.
Schepp, 48, is originally from Solvay and has served on the Manlius town board since 2000. Schepp is now a business partner with Juno’s Glass in Auburn, N.Y., and is a former member of the Fayetteville Fire Department. Schepp has three sons and three grandchildren.
(Joe Frandino is a senior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and political science.)
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