Albany Times Union

Shrestha, Madden face off in primary

2 Democrats compete in 103rd Assembly District

KINGSTON — Before first-term Assemblywo­man Sarahana Shrestha can secure reelection in the 103rd District, she must first go through Gabi Madden, a 28-year-old former statehouse staffer challengin­g Shrestha from the right in the Democratic primary.

Shrestha has symbolized a movement of electing new, progressiv­e Democrats over establishe­d moderates. Now she has a legislativ­e record to defend against Madden, a more mainstream opponent running her first campaign.

Shrestha, 43, of Esopus, pulled off an upset against Assemblyma­n Kevin Cahill in the 2022 primary and became the first Democratic socialist from upstate to serve in the Legislatur­e. Her win was largely attributed to a groundswel­l of grassroots support for her optimistic, socialist platform and a force of volunteers familiar with her climate activism.

One of Shrestha’s most notable backers, besides the Working Families Party, is the Democratic Socialists of America. Before she was elected, she co-chaired mid-hudson Valley chapter’s Ecosociali­sm Working Group and has used her role in office to push for changes in energy, health care and housing.

“We are here to make nonstarter­s possibilit­ies,” Shrestha said in a virtual debate hosted by the Daily Freeman Tuesday. “That’s our job.”

This time, Shrestha has support from the Ulster County Democratic Committee, but Madden has support from local elected Democrats in the district. The Bloomingto­n resident spent five years working for legislator­s, including Cahill. Her education was in communicat­ions and journalism, but she found herself lured into government after working in constituen­t services for Cahill and eventually became his chief of staff. In 2021, after three years with Cahill, she was named Sen. James Skoufis’ deputy chief of staff.

She has been endorsed by several municipal and county government leaders, including Kingston Mayor Steve Noble and by Skoufis and Cahill.

Though she has no elected experience, Madden’s campaign is focused on how her work as a staffer helped advance policy proposals. She also touts knowledge of navigating bureaucrac­y and relationsh­ips.

Both candidates have large volunteer teams — 200 for Madden and 150 for Shrestha, according to each of them — and both are participat­ing in New York’s new matching donations program, where the state will match contributi­ons under $250 from donors who live in the district. But the candidates differ in whom they will accept funding from.

The district mostly consists of eastern Ulster County communitie­s, stretching across the river to cover Red Hook and Rhinebeck in northern Dutchess. There are about 48,900 enrolled Democrats and 19,200 enrolled Republican­s. The winner will face Republican Jack Hayes, but the Democrats’ choice will likely represent the district for the next two years.

Why they’re running

Madden was inspired to run by working in constituen­t services for Cahill. Sometimes problems were small, like fixing a pothole. Others were more impactful, like getting a person’s benefits from the U.S. Veterans Administra­tion or pushing through paperwork with the state Office of People with Developmen­tal Disabiliti­es so a little boy can use a ramp to ride the bus with the rest of his classmates, she said.

In Cahill’s office, she also worked in community outreach and clerked for the Standing Committee on Insurance, where she played a role in New York’s codificati­on of Roe v. Wade. When she became Cahill’s chief of staff, she handled district affairs, coordinate­d public hearings on budget proposals and legislatio­n, and helped the assemblyma­n draft policy.

Madden joined Skoufis’ all-female leadership team in 2021 as his deputy chief of staff, which immersed her in state investigat­ions through his role as chair of the Senate’s Investigat­ions and Government Operations Committee. Madden was there in 2022 when Skoufis launched an investigat­ion into skyrocketi­ng utility bills in the Hudson Valley, including those issued by Central Hudson.

Madden said she believes Shrestha has not effectivel­y represente­d the district, claiming Shrestha is more focused on pushing a “DSA platform,” which Madden described as a national agenda. Madden also believes she could do a better job handling constituen­t services and community connection­s.

“It just really bothers me that over the past two years, (Shrestha) wasn’t reaching out to establish open lines of communicat­ion with supervisor­s, mayors, highway superinten­dents, school superinten­dents, school board presidents and her constituen­t services are minimum, if at all,” Madden said.

She has also accused Shrestha of jeopardizi­ng tax money coming back to the district by voting against a state budget bill.

But though Madden has styled herself as a more mainstream Democrat than Shrestha, she is running in the primary without support from the Ulster County Democratic Committee, which overwhelmi­ngly voted to support Shrestha earlier this year.

Madden said she did not get fair considerat­ion before the committee endorsed a candidate.

“I’m making outreach, hosting meet and greets, trying to get as much face time with these individual­s as possible in a short timeframe so that they can understand my platform in advance of making this vote,” Madden said. “And when I wasn’t getting any return phone calls or people attending these different meet-and-greet events, that was really alarming to me. Because this is a huge responsibi­lity on these committee members.”

Though Madden was speaking to committee members’ individual responsibi­lities, Committee Chair Kelleigh Mckenzie said the overall process for seeking endorsemen­ts is fair. Candidates are provided contact informatio­n for members so they can send informatio­n about campaigns. They are then given the chance to visit local Democratic committees for a “deep dive” pitch of their platforms.

Mckenzie could not speak for everyone as to why members chose to support Shrestha, but she offered some insight.

“My sense is that the people who did support Sarahana in the endorsemen­t vote felt she was doing a good job in her role. Also, I think that, from my perspectiv­e, Sarahana is addressing some of the deep structural issues and problems, like climate change, affordable housing, a utility company run amok, and I think a lot of those issues really speak to younger voters in our party — it speaks to all of us, but especially younger voters.”

She added: “When I look at Sarahana and her legislativ­e record and the approach that she has taken to the role of Assembly member, I think she’s part of an energetic group of new legislator­s who are really pushing for these larger issues in an Assembly that has had a Democratic supermajor­ity forever and that just doesn’t seem to be taking big, bold action in the way that we need.”

Madden said she continued her campaign because she wants voters to speak for themselves.

“It’s only about 200 people, right?” she said of the committee. “And we have over 50,000 registered Democrats in our district. I knew this was a very small margin of Democrats speaking to their choice of the candidate, and that a lot of those ‘no’ votes by the actual committee members were a result of being misinforme­d.”

Shrestha has fired back against Madden’s claims about her legislativ­e record, saying she would not have voted against part of the state budget if there was a true threat of the package not passing. She characteri­zed her vote as “symbolic” and a way to show she was aggrieved with the overall budget.

As for her connection­s to the district, Shrestha said, “It’s not even a legitimate critique” and noted that several of the area’s more progressiv­e officials have endorsed her.

“I believe the difference between my opponent and I is this idea of who the stakeholde­rs are,” she said. “To me, superinten­dents and town supervisor­s are my colleagues, but they are not necessaril­y who I think of as the people I need to go to to understand my constituen­ts. I want to know them and be collaborat­ive as their colleagues, but I think my opponent thinks of them as the representa­tives to which you understand your constituen­ts.”

Shrestha grew up in Nepal during a historic period of democratic uprising, which spurred a civil war. She came to the U.S. via Long Island in the fall of 2001 to study graphic design. There, she found other like-minded progressiv­es and got involved in national and state political activism, which is how she came to know the Democratic Socialists of America.

Running for office wasn’t a natural choice for her — she said she had to be convinced — but the opportunit­ies at stake in the Legislatur­e for “very big transforma­tive changes that are within our reach” compelled her to run.

Shrestha said she feels the need to continue her work on behalf of her constituen­ts.

“The reason I am so invested in this role is because there are real opportunit­ies in Albany that could make such a big difference to so many people’s lives,” Shrestha said. “So I would really be an idiot to give up on those opportunit­ies. I also know that what we need is a coalition of people who are pushing for things both inside Albany and outside Albany. And it is really, really important to be a reliable piece within that coalition.”

Legislativ­e priorities

Shrestha was part of a freshman class of Assembly members who pushed for progressiv­e legislatio­n, including a statewide “good-cause” eviction law. Though she was disappoint­ed by the final version, she said the new law is a step in the right direction and will advocate for other measures to help ease the housing crisis, including funding emergency housing vouchers, especially pertinent to Ulster County, where people have lived in hotels and motels for extended periods because of the affordabil­ity crisis.

On a bigger scale, Shrestha is also pushing for social housing, which would provide permanentl­y affordable, “green” housing across a range of incomes. Her proposal calls for a social housing authority run by a public developer.

Madden also wants to address local housing needs by securing more funding for municipali­ties and building department­s to reconfigur­e zoning rules and allow for accessory dwelling units, which could add to housing stock and provide supplement­al income for property owners. She also wants to better protect tenants living in manufactur­ed homes by implementi­ng a “right of first refusal,” which would allow renters the first chance to buy the home before it’s put on the market or offered to developers.

Both Madden and Shrestha want to address issues with Central Hudson, whose billing practices have been an overwhelmi­ng issue for the district’s residents.

Shrestha has teamed up with state Sen. Michelle Hinchey to introduce legislatio­n that calls for a public takeover of Central Hudson. Madden said she also wants to pursue a public power option.

Who’s backing them

Madden has outraised Shrestha over the past six months, receiving $123,388 compared to Shrestha’s $61,473, according to campaign finance reports. Many of Madden’s individual donors who have contribute­d the maximum amount — $3,000 — appear to be wealthy, including hedge fund managers, venture capital investors and people working in real estate and developmen­t.

She has also received financial backing from the Civil Service Employees political action fund; the British American Boulevard PAC, which represents real estate developmen­t; and the Capital Women PAC, whose website says it supports progressiv­e pro-choice, PROLGBT and pro-progressiv­e issue candidates.

Madden has taken heat from other Democrats for accepting donations from the real estate industry, including Seema Gruman, CEO of Opus Management, which manages the Chestnut Mansion complex in the Rondout; Real Estate Board of New York board members; and Richard Lanzarone, leader of the Hudson Valley Property Owners Associatio­n, which has sued municipali­ties over their opting into the state’s Emergency Tenant Protection Act.

But she has been open about her willingnes­s to accept these types of contributi­ons while Shrestha has said she will refuse donations from “CEOS, corporatio­ns, corporate lobbyists, fossil fuel polluters, school and health care privatizer­s and luxury developers.”

Shrestha said her race against Madden is also a battle against the real estate industry: “How can I give up on this fight when I am so effective that the real estate industry is coming after me by spending tens of thousands of dollars?”

In terms of PAC support, Shrestha received funds from the New York State Nurses Associatio­n.