Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-Cicero, said he will drop out of the crowded 2024 race for state Senate and will instead seek reelection to the Assembly.
Stirpe announced in October that he would run for the 50th Senate District next year. That seat will be vacated by Democrat John Mannion, who is running for Congress.
Since then, two other Democrats have announced their intentions to run for the open Senate seat. Chris Ryan, of Syracuse, is minority leader of the Onondaga County Legislature. Tom Drumm, of Oswego, is the former Democratic minority leader of the Oswego County Legislature.
Salina Supervisor Nick Paro announced he’s a Republican candidate. Jim Rowley, a Republican who is retiring as chair of the Onondaga County Legislature, announced his intention to run and later dropped out.
Stirpe said the race has turned into a bigger effort than he expected when he was first recruited by Senate Democratic Party leaders.
“The way things are right now is not exactly how everyone described it to me when they were pitching me to run,” he said.
He also said he needs to turn more attention to a personal family issue.
“I just don’t think I have the time to campaign nonstop from when we started October 3 all the way through,” he said. “I think that if I run for my Assembly office, I won’t really have to start doing a real campaign until closer to Memorial Day.”
Last month, Colton Mennig, a 27-year-old schoolteacher from Cazenovia, launched a campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 127th Assembly District which Stirpe represents.
Stirpe, 70, begins his 16th year in office in January.
He was first elected to the Assembly in 2006, and served two terms before he was defeated by Republican Donald Miller. Stirpe came back to win the 127th District seat in 2012. He has now held the seat for six consecutive terms.
The Assembly district spans the towns of Clay, Cicero and Manlius in Onondaga County and Cazenovia in Madison County.
More on race for 50th Senate District
- Republican drops bid for John Mannion’s New York Senate seat
- A 2nd Republican enters race for John Mannion’s New York Senate seat
- Syracuse mayor, an independent, endorses Democrat for NY Senate seat
- Top Democrat in Onondaga County Legislature to join crowded field seeking NY senate seat
- NY Assembly Democrat will campaign for John Mannion’s state Senate seat
Contact Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com | 315-470-3186.