The major party candidates to replace James Alesi, representing the 55th District of the state Senate, are in place: Monroe County Legislator Ted O’Brien, for the Democrats, and state Assemblyman Sean Hanna, for the Republicans.
O’Brien, D-Irondequoit, was introduced Thursday morning by the Monroe County Democratic Committee, one day after Alesi, R-Perinton, said he would not seek re-election. Hanna was announced by the Monroe County Republican Party late morning.
O’Brien, an attorney, is the minority leader in the county Legislature.
“I am running for state Senate because our community deserves a state senator who is committed to fighting for middle-class families each and every day,” he said in a statement released by the Democratic committee.
“In these tough economic times, I recognize that we have plenty of work to do to create more jobs, further reduce taxes and ease the burdens on entrepreneurs willing to start a business.”
Hanna, R-Mendon, was elected to the 130th District seat in the Assembly in 2010.
An attorney, Hanna served as regional director in Avon, Livingston County, for the Department of Environmental Conservation from 2003 until 2010. He was a county legislator from 1996 until 2003, and a felony trial prosecutor for the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office for six years before that.
County GOP leaders previously said they would not support Alesi, who last year voted in favor of same-sex marriage in New York. Alesi also was the subject of intense criticism after he filed suit against a property owner in his district after being injured while on their property.
Alesi was elected to the state Assembly in 1992 after serving three years in the county Legislature. He won a special election in February 1996 to become a member of the state Senate.
(c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.
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