SCHOHARIE, NY — Assembly Member Christopher Tague (R,C-102) is running to move from the state legislature’s lower chamber to the upper chamber, as he campaigns to represent New York State’s 51st Senate District. Tague, who served as an assembly member for eight years, is running on a platform of affordability and representing rural interests.

Before his term in the Assembly, Tague served as the Schoharie town supervisor. He left that position to run in a special election for his current assembly seat. In state government, Tague has been lauded as an effective lawmaker, ranking as the most effective minority lawmaker in the New York State Assembly for the 2023-2024 legislative session, according to the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Now Tague is hoping to parlay that success in the Assembly into success in the Senate. 

“I’ve been successful in my five terms in the Assembly, and I felt that it was time to move on and to make sure that the Senate district was covered by somebody with common sense and somebody that was from here, worked here, lived here and that was going to be able to do the job to deliver for their constituents,” Tague said.

Affordability and agriculture

Tague said the guiding principle for his campaign is affordability, saying he views that as the “most important thing” in New York state right now.

“The truth of the matter is it all comes back to affordability,” Tague said. “We have to make New York affordable. It’s just gotten out of control.”

Tague also touted agriculture and taking care of rural communities as part of his platform. Tague started his own dairy farm when he was 16, and as such has taken an interest in agricultural policies. In the Assembly, Tague served as the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, where he worked closely with chair Donna Lupardo (D-123) to create policies to help New York’s farming communities. Tague said that agriculture and agriculture policies are “very near and dear” to his heart.

“[Lupardo and I] put politics aside and we did what was right for the agricultural community,” Tague said. “Because of my experience in agriculture, it was very helpful to the committee and to legislation because I was able to help them realize areas where we were lacking that we needed to make changes.”

An undercurrent of Tague’s platform is dissatisfaction with the way Albany works. Tague says that in his time in Albany he saw bad policies be implemented that hurt average New Yorkers, policies he railed against. He said the Albany political machine that instituted these policies is to blame for how unaffordable New York is.

“If you have an R next to your name, and you put legislation through, the majority either steals the legislation to put it in as their own, or they don’t allow it to go through,” Tague said. “I have 10 bills in front of me now that I’ve proposed that would help with the affordability issue. We can’t get the legislation on the floor or through committee.”

Tague says that the current Democratic trifecta in Albany needs to be broken up. He said that Democrats have been ineffective, even though they held the governor’s mansion, a supermajority in the Assembly and are one seat short of a supermajority in the senate.

“If New Yorkers are really serious about making New York more affordable and safer, then they need to start electing some Republicans around the state,” Tague said. “Starting off with me.”

A senatorial successor

When the current incumbent, Sen. Peter Oberacker, announced he would be challenging Congressman Josh Riley (D-19), he reached out to Tague to see if Tague would run for the seat. Since then, the two campaigns have worked closely together, attending events together and collaborating on their campaigns. Despite this, Tague does not feel that he is the “heir apparent” and said he is working hard to win voters.

“I don’t think anybody’s ‘heir apparent’ to anything,” Tague said. “You have to go out there and you have to fight for it, and you have to earn the people’s vote and support. No such thing as ‘heir apparent.’”

Tague highlighted the fact that he had a primary challenger in the race (Sullivan County legislator Terry Blosser-Bernardo) and that he had to campaign hard to win that primary. Tague said that if he wanted to be the heir apparent, he would have run much earlier, when his mentor, former Sen. James L. Seward, left office, saying the seat was offered to him. He declined, saying that his constituents elected him to represent them in the Assembly and that is what he was going to do. Now, five years later, he feels he has spent his time and is ready to face a new challenge.

“It’s time to move on,” Tague said. “I don’t feel that politicians should be in office as a career. I’ve always felt that way.”

“It would be the biggest honor”

In closing, Tague said that it was an “honor and a privilege” to serve his constituents in the Assembly, and that he looks forward  to the election, and said that “it would be the biggest honor of  my life to earn each person’s vote.”

“I appreciate everyone’s consideration,” Tague said. “I’m looking forward to making new friendships with people I don’t know, and I will work as hard as I have for the constituents, for my family and for myself. That’s who I am.”