DeRosa opposes Lunsford in the race for the 135th State Assembly district

Rochester, New York – Kimberly DeRosa is running for the 135th State Assembly district, and her goal is to defeat Jen Lunsford. Both candidates, who hoped to represent the east side of Monroe County, were interviewed.

“I decided to run because I’m really dissatisfied with the state of our state,” DeRosa stated.
“Despite my background in HR and retail management, my family has always been first in my life. I’ve been the mom in the PTA. I’ve organized activities at the schools, volunteered constantly at my son’s schools over the years, and pulled my youngest out of school to homeschool for a few years. He’s currently 17 years old. About 13 years ago, my family relocated here in search of a quieter suburban community, better schools, and closer proximity to my in-laws who now reside here. But because this place is so lovely and because I’ve watched our state deteriorate, I want to fix a few things and use legislation to restore common sense.

The newly elected Republican says her priority is to cut taxes and energy expenses.

“I’d also like to see improvements in our schools,” stated DeRosa. “A focus on academic excellence and parental rights, so parents are more involved in their children’s education.”

She also expressed several worries about public safety in New York. DeRosa declared that she “wants to bring common sense back with legislation.”

“Small business owners that I speak to have are dealing with rampant theft that never seems to — you know, the perpetrators never seem to have consequences,” DeRosa stated. “We must make some adjustments so that our law enforcement officials won’t be begging us to amend the legislation…All we need is clear legislation. In order for things to truly improve and for those in need of assistance to receive it, rather than being left free to walk the streets and commit crimes repeatedly, we need repeat offender standards.”

Jen Lunsford, a Democrat, is a candidate seeking reelection to the assembly a third time.

“I was an attorney in this community for 12 years before taking office,” stated Lunsford. “On Election Day in 2016, when my kid was eight weeks old, I had anticipated that he would enter a world full of possibilities and hope. And when that failed, I realized I had to make the kind of world I wish for all of our children and put my money where my mouth was.”

According to Lunsford, reductions in crime have been facilitated by community investments such as New York’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative.

“Crime has been declining across the board,” stated Lunsford. “We’ve made significant investments in community solutions that are preventing some of these crimes from occurring in the first place, which is why we’re way down on car thefts and gun crimes, but we still haven’t gotten a handle on domestic violence.” Since it was passed in 2019, the bail reform has actually been altered three times. Judges and DAs now have access to a plethora of additional resources in addition to a significant increase in discretion. Many of the critics of bail reform fail to realize that the majority of their requested reforms have already been implemented. In actuality, crime decreases in the community rather than in the courts. You’re not stopping crime that way, even though we can better manage how we hold people accountable.”

According to Lunsford, facilitating people’s access to healthcare is her top priority. She wants to carry on improving that job.

“Each of the years I’ve been in office, I’ve been making raising Medicaid rates for nursing homes and group home settings a top priority, and while we’ve made progress there, every single year, it’s still not enough.”

On November 5th, both candidates encourage voters to cast ballots. To register and view the candidates running in your area, click this link.