Meet the 15 Rochester-area Assembly candidates 

[
      {
        "name": "500x250 Ad",
        "insertPoint": "5",
        "component": "15667920",
        "parentWrapperClass": "",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
      }
    ]

All seats in the state Assembly are up for election this year. Below is a rundown of the candidates for the eight seats that cover Monroe County.

130TH DISTRICT
Webster, Wayne County

Brian Manktelow
Republican, Conservative
facebook.com/BrianManktelowNYSAssembly

A resident of Lyons, Manktelow has served in the Assembly since 2019. He’s a former town supervisor, an Army veteran, and for more than 30 years has owned and operated Manktelow Farms in Lyons.

Manktelow has said his focus in the Assembly has been pushing for policies that encourage economic growth, securing resources to address the opioid epidemic, and protecting natural resources in the district. He has also called for state bail reforms to be revisited, particularly matters of judicial discretion and certain requirements that were placed on prosecutors.

Scott Comegys
Democrat, Working Families
electscottcomegys.com

The former facility manager of Strong Memorial Hospital, Comegys bought a Palmyra alpaca farm in 2012 and set about implementing sustainable practices there.

Comegys has said he wants to bring people and organizations together to work in partnership on major issues. He wants the state to direct more funding to education and school programs, favors economic development initiatives that support alternative energy, sustainable agriculture, and ecotourism. Supporting legislation to establish “affordable universal health care” and provide funding for public health research is also on his agenda.

133rd DISTRICT
Wheatland, Rush; parts of Wyoming, Livingston, Ontario, and Steuben Counties

Marjorie Byrnes
Republican, Conservative
byrnes4assembly.com

Byrnes, who lives in Caledonia, has served in the Assembly since 2019. She’s been an attorney for 32 years, 10 of which she spent as a Rochester City Court judge.

She has advocated for the state to increase infrastructure spending and supports term limits. Recently, she’s been trying to advance legislation requiring the state to pay for school districts to hire trained and armed resource officers. Byrnes has said she is a “strong advocate for the Second Amendment” and she has been among Republicans calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject a recommendation by a state wage board to reduce the overtime threshold for farmworkers. The board has recommended that farmworkers earn overtime pay after 40 hours, as opposed to the current 60 hours.

Sara Spezzano
Democrat
Spezzanoforny133.com

A resident of Wheatland, Spezzano’s priorities include the passage of single-payer universal health care legislation, increasing investment in broadband internet infrastructure, and passing the Universal Child Care Act, which would establish a childcare system akin to the public school system.

Spezzano also wants the state to increase education spending and distribute the funding more equitably. Doing so, she says, would enable schools — rural ones in particular — to provide students with mental health services, and to pilot a program that better ties community services, such as food banks or flu shot clinics, into rural schools.

134th DISTRICT
Parma, Greece, Ogden

Josh Jensen
Republican, Conservative
facebook.com/joshjensen134
Jensen, who lives in Greece, is wrapping up his first term in the Assembly. He is running uncontested.

135th DISTRICT
Penfield, East Rochester, Pittsford, Perinton, Mendon

Jen Lunsford
Democrat, Working Families
votejenlunsford.com

During the 2020 elections, Lunsford defeated a 10-year incumbent to flip a seat long held by Republicans to Democratic control. She won by a narrow margin that year but this time she’s running in a redrawn district with a stronger Democratic enrollment edge.

Lunsford, who lives in Perinton, has supported and advocated for legislation that tightened state gun laws, provided a property tax rebate to homeowners, expanded children’s eligibility for early intervention services and increased funding for the programs, increased state child care funding, and bolstered state environmental laws. She sponsored legislation that would increase funding for career and technical education aid and backed a different bill that would expand a child and dependent care tax credit.

Joseph Chenelly
Republican, Conservative
joefornys.com

Chenelly, who lives in Perinton, is the national director of the veterans service organization AMVETS, and has worked on veterans issues for much of his professional career. He served in the Marines for seven years.

Like many other Republican legislative candidates, Chenelly wants to cut state spending and lower taxes, as well as roll back reforms to the state’s bail and parole laws. His website refers to him as the “tough on crime candidate.” He also supports increased state investment in roads and wants to “re-empower” local school boards to give parents a larger role in shaping the school environment. A term limits supporter, Chenelly has said he would push for a ballot measure on the issue and would limit himself to eight years in office.

136th DISTRICT
Rochester, Irondequoit, Brighton

Sarah Clark
Democrat, Working Families
sarahclarkforassembly.com

A resident of Rochester’s Maplewood neighborhood, Clark is completing her first term in the Assembly. She previously worked for eight years as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s deputy state director.

Clark has sponsored several pieces of legislation that the Legislature passed, including bills that reformed the state’s long-term care ombudsman program and directed the state’s child care task force to recommend a path to universal child care. Her current priorities include increasing eligibility for state college tuition assistance and increasing the size of those awards, diverting mental health calls from police to specialized agencies, and passing the New York Health Act to establish single-payer healthcare in the state.

Orlando Rivera
Republican, Conservative
riverafor136.com
Rivera, who lives in Rochester’s Maplewood neighborhood, works as a real estate agent and serves on the boards of several professional associations and nonprofits.

One of Rivera’s key issues is housing, and he wants the state to identify and address barriers that keep people from buying homes. He wants the state to place greater emphasis on preventive health care and early testing for diseases such as cancer, and to work with struggling school districts to look at spending and performance, then devise plans to address deficiencies. He has also called on the state to better hold people who commit violent crimes accountable.

137th DISTRICT
Rochester, Gates

Demond Meeks
Democrat, Working Families
votedemondmeeks.com

Meeks, formerly a labor union organizer, is winding down his first term in the Assembly.

Among Meeks’s priorities are increasing education funding; workers’ rights and fair wages; increasing the availability of affordable housing; getting the state to recognize health care as a fundamental right and making it accessible, affordable, and equitable; and ensuring that the Rochester region gets its share of state funding and resources. He sponsored legislation that would direct the state to study and make recommendations regarding police brutality in Rochester.


Marcus Williams
Republican, Conservative
marcus4rochester.com

Williams, a Rochester resident who describes himself as a “dutiful citizen and community organizer,” has been especially vocal about crime in the city.

He advocates for the rollback of state bail and parole reforms, as well as a change in state law specifying that alleged offenders aged 16-17 are no longer automatically tried as adults. He also wants the state to provide more support for reintegration programs to help people leaving jail or prison. He wants more nuclear energy, and the construction of more gas pipelines to help get the state off of oil and coal. He also wants stronger jobs and trades programs for students and better pay and pensions for teachers to aid in hiring.

138th DISTRICT
Rochester, Henrietta, Chili, Riga

Harry Bronson
Democrat, Working Families
bronsonforassembly.com

Bronson, an attorney who lives in Rochester, is seeking his seventh term in the Assembly. Before that, he served in the Monroe County Legislature, where he was leader of the Democratic caucus. He also owns Equal Grounds, a coffee shop in the South Wedge.

Over the years, Bronson has gained a reputation as a progressive legislator who champions LGBTQ rights as well as workers’ rights and workplace protections. He’s supported legislation granting new protections to renters and ushering in criminal justice reforms, including the state’s new bail laws. Bronson chairs the Assembly’s Economic Development Committee.

Tracy DiFlorio
Republican, Conservative
tracydiflorio.com
A resident of Chili, DiFlorio is a seasoned elected official. She has served in the Monroe County Legislature since 2016 and currently chairs its Planning and Economic Development Committee. Previously, she was a member of the Chili Town Board.

DiFlorio believes the state government is out of touch with the people it serves and their concerns. She points to state bail reforms as an example, claiming that it has led to the release of suspected violent offenders without regard to public safety or alleged victims. She is also critical of what she sees as the state over-spending on services.

139th DISTRICT
Hamlin, Clarkson, Sweden; Genesee and Orleans Counties; part of Erie County

Stephen Hawley
Republican, Conservative
Hawleyforassembly.com

Hawley, who lives in Batavia, has served in the Assembly since a special election in 2006. He is the past owner and operator of a farm and owns an insurance agency.

The deputy minority leader of the Assembly, Hawley stresses his focus on agriculture. He sponsored legislation that would expand a key agricultural tax credit and would exempt farms from a state law that makes them liable when a worker is injured in an elevation-related fall. He is also critical of state laws and regulations that are “intrusive” to businesses.

Jennifer Ao Keys
Democrat
facebook.com/keysfor139

Keys is a social worker who lives in Leroy, Genesee County, and one of her key issues is increasing access to social and health services in New York.

The district is largely rural and Keys’ priorities reflect that. She wants to work to increase volunteerism for first responders, support gun legislation that respects the Second Amendment, support LGBTQ and reproductive rights, and improve access to health care. She also supports increasing wages and easing licensing requirements for mental health workers.

Jeremy Moule is CITY's deputy editor. He can be reached at [email protected].