BY Camille DeLongis Albany
PUBLISHED 6:16 PM ET Oct. 21, 2026
Republican Marc Molinaro and Democrat Janet Tweed are vying to represent New York’s 102nd Assembly District. They are seeking to replace Republican Chris Tague, who is running for state Senate.
Molinaro previously represented the 103rd Assembly District and the 19th Congressional District and served three terms as Dutchess County executive. He most recently served as administrator of the Federal Transit Administration before stepping down to return to state politics.
“The challenges facing our friends, our neighbors, our communities can be solved when people work together, and we confront the real challenge and the problems coming out of Albany,” Molinaro said.
Tweed ran unsuccessfully against Tague for this Assembly seat in 2024. She is a physical therapist at a rural critical access hospital, previously served on the Delhi Town Board and currently serves on the village’s Board of Trustees.
“We can do more, but that rural voice needs to be heard, and it needs to be heard by somebody who does live in the district and does know what it means both to work and also serve in local government,” Tweed said.
Both candidates say their top priority in Albany would be affordability and access to resources, from utility costs to health and mental health care.
Molinaro said state policy is driving providers out of rural communities.
“When the state needed to shore up downstate, at-risk, urban hospitals they took the sales tax revenue from upstate counties and sent it down there. I want our money back,” Molinaro said.
Tweed said the most important thing is to pass the New York Health Act.
“Single payer, universal healthcare. You’re a New Yorker, you have healthcare… and that saves the patient, the consumer money,” Tweed said.
The district covers parts of Albany, Schoharie, Otsego, Delaware and Greene counties. Election Day is Nov. 3.
