Another Democrat Throws Hat into 40th Senate Seat Ring
The Democratic field for the 40th New York State Senate seat is starting to get crowded.
Another Democratic candidate, Ali Boak, has come forward to run for the seat currently held by first term Republican Senator Terrence Murphy (R/Yorktown). Andrew Falk and Cortlandt Councilwoman Debbie Costello have both already announced their plans to run for the seat and now the Pound Ridge resident is also in search of the Democratic nomination.
Boak served on the Pound Ridge Town board for four years and vowed to give Hudson Valley residents a stronger voice in the state senate if elected. Her priorities would be ethics reform and stabilizing taxes, noting her campaign would be a grassroots effort.
“I believe it’s time to restore the public’s faith in our elected officials,” Boak said. “I’m done waiting for someone else to deliver solutions to the challenges our families face every day; if we’re going to address these problems it’s going to take all of us, working together, to find common solutions. I’m interested in solving problems to improve our quality of life, not playing politics.”
Eliminating crushing unfunded mandates, which Boak called a “burden” and “unfair” to local taxpayers, would be another issue she’d tackle.
Boak’s last run for office was a loss for the supervisor’s seat in Pound Ridge. She’s the co-founder and executive director of the International Organization for Adolescents, which is an independent organization that advances health and well-being for adolescents throughout the world since 1999.
Boak is also an internationally recognized expert in human and child trafficking, as well as an author and college professor, according to a press release her campaign sent out.
“We see it every day, and we feel it in our communities,” said Boak. “Families pressured by high taxes, young people leaving because of a lack of good jobs, parents who worry about what kind of education their kids are getting and the cost of college—it’s all too much. And many of the people who are supposed to represent us and fight for us in Albany are either bought off by special interests or too caught up in their own scandals to get the job done.”
With Boak entering the race, it could set up a three-way primary for the Democratic nomination in September.
Costello, a first-term councilwoman, issued the following statement: “It is crucial we end the culture of corruption in Albany, a culture which Terrence Murphy has fully embraced,” Costello said. “Regardless of the eventual nominee, the residents of the 40th district deserves a senator who will represent the best interest of constituents, not a favor-maker who is only in it for himself.”
Falk, who has run twice for state Assembly and once for Patterson supervisor, only to fall short each time, said, “It’s always good when people choose to get involved politically. I feel that having run in over 41 percent of the 40th Senate District previously and doing well in the most conservative part of the Senate District along with having endorsements from the Working Families Party, the Communication Workers of America Local 1103, the Carmel Teacher’s Association and the Carmel and Patterson Democratic Committees and thousands of grassroots activists give me the clear advantage as the candidate best in position to defeat Terrence Murphy in November.
Murphy, who took the seat after former NYS senator Greg Ball retired, won easily in 2014, thumping Democratic counterpart and Croton resident Justin Wagner.
