WATERTOWN, NY — State Senator Patty Ritchie (R-C-I-Ref, Heuvelton) today announced that she will be a candidate for reelection to represent the Senate’s 48th District.
“It has been the honor of my life to represent the North Country and Central New York in the Senate,” said Senator Ritchie, who is currently serving her fourth, two-year term. “Through my work in the Senate, I have been proud to stand up for farmers and our communities, families of our military serving at Fort Drum, for school children, seniors and taxpayers, and to protect and defend the unique way of life we enjoy as residents of one of the most beautiful regions in our entire state.”
“There is more work to be done, and I want to continue to build on my record of delivering for our region, to build a stronger economy with better opportunity for all, and to defend the rights of citizens who live here.”
After serving a decade as St. Lawrence County Clerk, Ritchie was elected to the Senate in 2010, restoring GOP control to the chamber after two disastrous years when the entire state was ruled by downstate Democrats who cut funding for schools and imposed record tax increases.
Since that time, Senator Ritchie voted to cut taxes every single year and strongly supported creation of a property tax cap that’s stopped a half billion dollars in tax increases in the 48th Senate District.
She fought to nearly double state funding for local public schools, and provided millions of dollars in grants and additional aid to local schools, libraries and local governments. As chair of the Senate’s Libraries Committee, she won the first increase in state library aid in three years, and secured record funding for library reconstruction.
Senator Ritchie, who has chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee throughout her four terms, secured $75 million to reverse cuts and provide new funding to help farmers grow, and prioritized school-based agriculture programs and initiatives to spur a new generation to help preserve the agriculture tradition that helps shape the rural communities she represents.
She has been a strong champion for Fort Drum, active duty military and veterans, securing millions of dollars to protect the post against budget cutbacks and authoring legislation to ease military life for spouses and children of active duty soldiers.
She led the effort to create an $80 million emergency relief fund to help shoreline homeowners and businesses rebuild following the ruinous 2017 flooding, and has helped support and promote recreational snowmobiling and sportfishing events critical to the region’s tourism economy.
The 48th Senate District includes all of Jefferson and Oswego Counties, including the cities of Watertown, Fulton and Oswego; as well as 16 towns in north and western St. Lawrence County and the city of Ogdensburg.