For nearly 20 years, the 56th Senate District was a bit of an oddity.
The district represents much of the westside of Rochester and its suburbs, where Democrats substantially outnumber Republicans. Yet Joseph Robach, a former Democrat-turned-Republican, comfortably won eight terms in office before stepping down from his seat in 2020.
Jeremy Cooney, a progressive Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Robach for the seat in 2018, won election in 2020. In his bid to retain the office, he faces a well-known face in the district.
James VanBrederode was the chief of police in Gates for nearly a decade and headed the Monroe County Chiefs’ Association. He stepped down as chief early this year and almost immediately launched his campaign for the Senate.
Jeremy Cooney
Cooney enjoys two significant advantages over VanBrederode.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by more than two-to-one, and as of July, the most recent date for which data was available, Cooney’s campaign committee held a war chest of about $375,000 in contrast to VanBrederode’s $47,000.
In an interview in September, Cooney pointed to key issues he believes the region is facing. Top of mind for him were public safety, education, and the economic future of Rochester.
A supporter of criminal justice reforms like the Bail Elimination Act and the Less is More Act parole reforms, Cooney sees public safety as being more than just police.
“To not give serious consideration to other issues other than crime and punishment is, in my opinion, a disservice to the voters of New York,” Cooney said. “You have to understand the intersectionality of these types of issues.
“I always say my platform is jobs, schools, and safety,” Cooney continued. “Because they’re all interconnected.”
Cooney supports enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution, and taking steps to expand state-funded healthcare in New York.
He also sees New York, and particularly the Rochester region, as a potential hub for people fleeing climate change in places like California or the American southwest.
Rochester, he said, can often be stuck in the past, and fixated on its history as a “company town” for Kodak and Xerox. Cooney said state and local governments should emphasize making Rochester attractive to people who want to set up small businesses and create an economically diverse ecosystem.
“One of Rochester’s biggest challenges is our sense of nostalgia, in terms of holding onto jobs and areas of focus that may not be relevant to the next five or 10 years of population,” Cooney said. “I’m not just talking about recent college graduates, I’m talking about for my friends’ kids, what job are they going to want?”
James VanBrederode
VanBrederode, like many other Republican candidates running for office in New York, is hinging his campaign on public safety.
Rochester set a record for homicides last year at 81. VanBrederode joins a chorus of Republican candidates across the state who suggest a direct correlation between the spike in violence and new bail and parole regulations. State data does not link the two, and Rochester’s upward trend aligns with crime rates nationwide.
VanBrederode did not respond to several requests for an interview for this report
But comments he has made publicly and in previous interviews mostly make clear where VanBrederode stands on some issues.
VanBrederode has been skeptical of vaccine mandates at healthcare facilities. In July, he was advertised as a key speaker for an anti-mandate protest outside Strong Memorial Hospital, alongside local right wing radio personality Shannon Joy.
He is also a proponent of bringing workforce training into classrooms and improving access to different pathways outside of the traditional school to college pipeline.
VanBrederode believes the threat of incarceration can be a motivational tool for introducing people in the criminal justice system to resources like job training programs and addiction treatment.
“One of the tools to get people to follow the rules in drug court was a judge telling a person, ‘Hey, if you don’t follow through with this, I’m going to put you in jail,’” VanBrederode said in a January interview. “Now, people are going to opt for those courses, because I’m not going to jail.”
A key campaign promise of VanBrederode’s is leading an effort to repeal changes to the criminal justice system, like reforms to the bail and parole processes, which he calls “pro-crime.” On his public Twitter account, VanBrederode regularly attributes homicides in the city to the reforms.
“Unfortunately, our state senators have worked with New York’s career politicians to squander our communities' best strengths,” VanBrederode’s campaign website reads. “Albany’s pro-criminal agenda has made Rochester a place known for violence, not opportunity.”
Gino Fanelli is a CITY staff writer.
