Voters in the 124th state Assembly District so far have only one option: their incumbent William A. Barclay (R-Pulaski).
Barclay, 38, was nominated May 1 by the Onondaga County Republican Party to run again for the assembly seat he has held for six years.
The Onondaga County Democratic party had not endorsed a candidate as of April 29. “We don’t have anyone proposed yet. It’s up to the individual who wants to run for the seat,” said Fern Whyland, executive director of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. The Democrats have their convention to designate candidates on May 15.
The general election is Nov. 4, 2008.
In the 124th state Assembly District, Barclay has represented the district since 2002. He did not return five requests for an interview.
The 124th district includes Onondaga and Oswego counties. The towns and villages within this district are Skaneateles, Elbridge, Mexico, Camillus, Marcellus, Leander, Grandby, Fulton, Oswego, New Haven, Scriba, Richland, Albion, and Wolney. The district appears as an upside down J, the top swinging through Richland and the bottom through Skaneateles.
“It gets really weird with twist and turns. But it’s like that because it was designed to be Republican,” said Michael Ruddy, a SUNY Oswego political science professor who lives in Richland. The process that designs a district so it achieves a party majority is called “gerrymandering.”
The Republican majority means that if Barclay confirms that he will run for the district again, he likely will be a shoe-in candidate, predicts Ruddy. “Most likely the Democratic candidate would not win. This district is pretty heavily Republican,” said Ruddy.
Here’s a sketch of Barclay:
Barclay (incumbent, Republican)
He comes from a long line of Republican politicians and is the eighth generation of Barclays to live in Pulaski. His father, Hugh D. Barclay, was a New York State Senator and he was an ambassador to El Salvador. Barclay’s father has also served on the George W. Bush election committee in New York, said political scientist Ruddy.
Barclay is partner with the Syracuse law firm, Hiscock and Barclay. He specializes in business law, according to his Web site. He and his wife Margaret have two sons, Harry, 5, and George, 7.
Barclay earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University and his law degree from Syracuse University. Once he finished school, he worked as a clerk for Judge Roger Miner of the U.S. Court of Appeals, according to his Web site. The positions were in Albany and New York City.
Before being elected to the New York State Assembly, Barclay was a member of the SUNY Oswego College Council. He has also served on the boards of directors for Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, the Everson Museum of Art, and Northern Oswego County Health Services.
After serving five years in the Assembly, Barclay ran as the Republican nominee in the special election for the 48th state Senate District of the New York State Senate. James W. Wright resigned from the position. The district covers parts of Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.
Barclay ran against Darrel Aubertine (D-Cape Vincent) in the state senate race. Barclay lost to Aubertine, 48 percent to 52 percent of votes, according to the New York State Board of Elections.
Since entering the Assembly, Barclay has sponsored bills that provide tax relief to property owners in Skaneateles, has upped school budgets in areas such as Oswego by 25 percent, and has proposed retirement plans for firefighters and policemen, according to his voting record on the New York State Assembly Web site.
Campaign Finance:
Barclay campaigned aggressively against Aubertine in one of the most expensive races in state senate history, with both candidates spending millions. Barclay received the most contributions in his career. Some of Barclay’s fundraising highlights, from filings with the state Board of Elections:
- Barclay received contributions over $1.3 million for the 48th state Senate District alone.
- $1.2 million of that money came from contributions from the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
- For all of his races combined in the 124th Assembly district, he received $460,000. Most of the donations are under $100.
- The largest single contribution in the 124th Assembly district came from Barclay’s law firm. The firm contributed $11,000 in July 2006.
(Koren Temple is a graduate student in magazine-newspaper-online journalism.)
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