To the Editor:

While the races at the federal level receive significant attention, let’s be entirely clear that the local and state races that Saugerties will be called to vote on, on Nov. 6, are more important than ever to protect our town, county, and state.

George Amedore, our current Republican State Senate incumbent, has a voting record that reflects total disregard for civil rights, workers’ rights, access to affordable health care for New Yorkers, gun-safety protections, and our environment. This is a man who is out of touch with what is good for his constituents and what is good for our great state.

Here is a sampling of his voting record. He voted against legislation that would have stopped convicted domestic abusers from purchasing guns. We need common-sense gun laws to protect children and families, and keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers is common sense!

He voted against increasing the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour and wage protections for freelancer workers (such as ensuring timely and full payment), policies that would have helped many families in his district that are living in poverty and would have supported those working for themselves.

He voted to allow discrimination based on gender identity, against marriage equality (three times!), and legislation to end wage discrimination based on gender or race. And he voted for fracking — a highly controversial method of extracting energy from our Earth that uses huge amounts of water, at significant cost to our environment, and may release potentially harmful chemicals into our groundwater.

I want our elected officials to work to provide opportunity for all residents, not just a select few. I’m voting for Pat Strong on Nov. 6.

Pat Strong will protect civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights. She is for common-sense gun safety.  She supports living wages for working families. She is a strong business leader who has a record of fighting for our environment.

I hope you Vote Strong, too, so we can be sure to make New York strong!

Nejla Liias

Saugerties

Editor’s note: Nejla Liias is the founder and president of Global Health Visions.