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JAMESTOWN – The Democratic Candidate for New York’s new 58th District Senate plans to address issues plaguing Western New York by “restoring hope” if elected to office.
Though the redistricting process is still in question following last month’s Senate vote to approve new districts, the newly formed plans are still set to be used for the upcoming election.
Braiden McElhaney is running as a Democrat in opposition to Republican incumbent George Borrello for the 58th District Senate, formerly the 57th seat.
Chairman of the Westfield Community Engagement Collaborative and teacher, McElhaney hopes to reverse the trend of population decline with his unique perspective.
“My goal is to use my passion, use my experience, and use my message to help restore hope, to restore faith in this district. Encouraging people to stay here, to live here, to raise a family here, to get their education here, to build a career here. That is our goal.” explains McElhaney.
The candidate hopes to achieve common sense solutions, regardless of political party, to be the voice of the working class in Albany.
“The biggest thing we wanna put forward is a bill that I would call ‘Revitalize Our Home,’ says McElhaney. “Essentially it’s going to find funding to incentivize businesses to hire homeless people. Incentivize businesses to hire students who are in high school. Encouraging the state to provide funding for schools to be able to afford to send their kids to trade schools.”
Under his proposed bill, students would enter the workforce with experience in a trade, or with college level courses.
McElhaney would also tackle the drug crisis in the area head on, with areas run by police officers and volunteers for citizens to bring in drugs, no questions asked, to get them off the streets. The candidate also made his stance on bail reform clear.
“I personally believe in the idea of bail reform. The idea is great, it helps those who are frequent in the system, it helps those who may not be able to pay criminal expenses, offers some leniency. However, the current state of the bail reform bill has a lot of loopholes, and I think Albany needs to reform the bail reform,” assures McElhaney.
He continued that having a Democrat on this side of the issue would improve the odds of the law being reformed.
McElhaney also shared his thoughts on the legalization of recreational marijuana, the redistricting process, and why he believes someone his age is right for the position. Our full interview is posted on WNY News Now’s YouTube page and Channel 716 on Roku.
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