Primary Candidates: Attorney General and Senator by Tom Reynolds
Wednesday evening, SCOPE was invited to sit in on a webinar which featured a Q and A with the Republican candidates for Attorney General (to replace Leticia James) and Senator (to replace Chuck Schumer). Neither of these positions will be affected by redistricting since they represent the entire state.
Both Attorney General candidates, Mike Henry and John Sarcone, are from downstate. Both have been touring upstate in their campaign. They will be facing each other in the Republican Primary.
Both spoke out against the Bail reform laws and rejected the “Defund the Police” narrative. Henry wants us to “stand with police…not just out of political convenience” and Sarcone uses “Refund the Police” to emphasize personal commitment. Sarcone pointed out that some police unions have endorsed him. (Note: nationwide, police unions have been traditionally Democrat supporters amongst their leadership but the Democrats’ soft-on-crime positions and Soros funded D.A.’s radical positions have some unions rethinking that commitment. This causes them conflict in large cities which are usually controlled by Democrats.)
Henry emphasized “Justice for victims” while Sarcone said, ”…the system has failed us”.
Both emphasized that rising crime is increasingly a problem and that issue will bring some Democrats and many Independents to vote Republican in the election.
Both were very critical of Letitia James. Sarcone referred to the AG position as Aspiring Governor, referring to Cuomo and Spitzer having used the AG position to further their political ambitions and James tried unsuccessfully to do the same. Henry wants the voters to hold James accountable for her actions, especially for her record in not taking action against rioters. Sarcone called her “anti-police” and “anti-2nd Amendment” and he also pointed out that her own party has rejected her.
Concerning vaccine mandates, both are pro-choice. Henry pointed out that the collateral damage from these mandates must be taken into account while Sarcone said the mandates were unconstitutional.
SCOPE asked them about their positions on the legal actions by James against the NRA and Trump, since both actions seem to be politically motivated. Both Henry and Sarcone indicated that, once in office, they would be reviewing ongoing actions and deciding if those actions had merit and if further action would be in the best interests of New York State. Henry went further in volunteering that the action against the NRA seemed to be using Wayne LaPierre as a gateway to get at its ultimate goal, the NRA. And the Trump action seemed to be aimed at embarrassing the Trump family.
Henry seemed to allude to James’ radical actions having a negative effect on the economy by discouraging investment in NY State.
Sarcone pressed his experience as a practicing attorney in many areas of the law, something he said previous AG’s have not had.
Running for Senator are Joe Pinion and Aleksander Mici. Pinion has most recently been a TV News Host on “Saturday Agenda” on Newsmax. Mici immigrated from Albania at age 15 and is a lawyer and sometimes TV actor. Both are from downstate.
Both Pinion and Mici want to use Schumer’s infamous record as a central point to their campaigns. Pinion says Schumer’s, “…fingerprints are on everything that’s gone wrong” while Mici says Schumer, “…is the face of socialism” and Mici will lead a “coalition of the disaffected”.
Pinion emphasized his opposition to “Defund the Police”, vaccine mandates and illegal immigration. He pointed out the hypocrisy of vaccine mandates while there is no mandate for illegal immigrants. He also brought up the “outmigration” of New Yorkers to other states under the Democrats and that redistricting is just a power search. Pinion also believes Election Integrity is important; if we take off the safeguards it encourages fraud. He believes that “right versus wrong” can be a simple clear issue for most voters.
Mici emphasized his experiences growing up in Albania, then a communist country, and those as an immigrant, as the driving forces in many of his positions. He criticized Critical Race Theory as teaching people to hate their country while, in actuality, the USA allows people to realize their dreams. Mici emphasized foreign affairs and noted that Schumer has abandoned Israel. He also supports Trump’s policies as to building a southern wall. He said “walls work” and to “let the border patrol do their jobs”. On domestic policy, Mici pointed out that NY used to be a powerhouse and that education and family life must be tied together.
The webinar was hosted by Nick Langworthy, the Chair of the New York State Republican Committee.
To read more articles by SCOPE President Tom Reynolds; go to our Briefings page
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