Katz Could Face Primary Challenge in Next Election
While September’s primary election is still eight months away, Assemblyman Steve Katz might already have a Republican challenger on his hand.
Frank Lombardi, who is a sitting member on the Carmel Town Board, said in an interview Thursday he’s considering a run for the District 94 assembly seat currently occupied by Katz, though he has yet to make any official decision.
Lombardi said fellow Republicans first approached him about a potential run when Katz was charged with possession of marijuana after he was stopped by a New York State trooper for speeding on the New York State Thruway this past March. Katz was ordered to pay a $75 fine and perform 20 hours of community service.
While Lombardi said he waited for the judicial process to play out, he did note he didn’t want to see the seat lost to a Democrat over the marijuana incident, especially when it affects multiple municipalities in Westchester and Putnam Counties.
Lombardi said one of the major actions he’s taken while on the town board is drug prevention. He said he was a big part of the town creating a special police unit of officers that are undercover in hopes of fighting the drug war locally.
“Every year we’ve have drug fatalities and overdoses,” Lombardi said. “So that’s something that’s a big priority.”
Katz has come out to support passing the use of medical marijuana as law in New York after he previously was against it. According to reports, Katz has recently joined a California venture capital firm The ArcView and hopes to raise $10 million for Marijuana-related businesses.
Lombardi said if he ran and were elected, he’d be against the legalization of any marijuana use. He also noted that Katz joining a marijuana-related business might be a conflict of interest when voting on legalizing it in New York.
“Once you start down the path, where do you stop,” Lombardi said of legalizing it. “We know the effects of marijuana on people. Marijuana is just that first to worst drugs and worst fatalities and hard drugs and more and more crime.”
Katz spokesperson, Joseph Ahearn said after research and testimony from residents in the district, Katz has determined that science shows overwhelming benefits compared to the negatives for medical marijuana.
He said he expects the assemblyman’s reversal on the issue to come up in any upcoming election and added it is “very likely” that Katz would run again, though an announcement would come after the holiday season.
Katz did hold a fundraiser this past weekend, Ahearn said.
Lombardi said while he has worked with Katz and gets along with him, he pointed out Katz’s voting record isn’t as conservative as it should be.
“There just hasn’t been the focus on things that help every day mom and dads take care of their kids,” Lombardi said. “Every year we keep getting mandates from the state without a check.”
As a board member on town level, Lombardi said his experience in that position gives him a clear idea on how crushing unfunded mandates can be at the local level.
Lombardi said he’ll probably announce sometime in February or March and is currently in the process of an exploratory committee. He has been a Carmel town board member since being elected in Nov. 2009 and won in a reelection bid this past November.
As for Democratic side of the ticket, Andrew Falk, who ran and lost to Katz in 2012 said in an interview he’d make an announcement in the coming months as well. The attorney said if he were to run, it’d be on the same principals he ran on last time. While an official decision hasn’t been made, Falk has a Facebook page set up that states he’s running for the state assembly.
The 94th district represents Somers and Yorktown from Westchester and Carmel, Patterson, Putnam Valley, and Southeast.
