The New York State Republican primaries will be held next month on June 25, and longtime Orange County resident and previous NYS Senate candidate Dorey Houle is on the ballot, vying to become the Republican candidate for the conservative line in this June’s primary.
A “principled Republican fighter,” Houle is known as a comprehensive problem solver who for the past six years has been serving residents of the Village and Town of Monroe while raising five children with her husband, a recently retired NYPD officer.
In the 2022 NYS senate race, Houle lost to Democrate incumbent James Skoufis in an incredibly close election, with Skoufis attracting 49,728 votes to Houle’s 48,296, a difference of just 1,432 votes.
“In the 2022 election cycle, I was a last minute candidate who was not well funded at all…. But considering that I had very little time to build a campaign, very little time to fundraise, we still came impressively close to unseating a longtime incumbent, “ Houle told Vision Times.
The 2022 race between Houle and Skoufis was not without controversy. More than a week after the election the race for NYS Senate in the 42nd District was still not called, despite Skoufis claiming victory.
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At the time, Houle posted to Facebook saying, “Contrary to what has been announced by my opponent, the race for NYS Senate District 42 has not been called.”
Houle said there were at least 2,000 ballots “with additional absentee ballots still being accepted,” that had yet to be counted. In the end however, she conceded the election, losing by a razor thin margin.
The key issues
This election cycle, Houle is running a campaign focused on crime and public safety, addressing mental health and drug addiction in the community, the cost of living crisis and protecting local elections, a platform very similar to the one she ran on in 2022.
When asked if she has seen any improvement in these areas over the past two years she scoffed, “Oh my goodness, no.”
“That’s one of the frustrating things about this election cycle … There has been no improvement to public safety. There has been no improvements to affordability. There has been no improvements to our roadways, our infrastructure. There has been no improvement to the quality of life here in New York, especially in Orange County and yet, it’s the same issues that we were talking about in 2022,” Houle said.
On the issue of public safety, Houle believes bail reform is an important issue that the current government has failed to adequately address.
She said that there has been a “minuscule” change to bail reform that “didn’t go nearly far enough.”
“We need laws, we need reforms, the bail reform, that are going to allow different branches of our government to do the job that has been endowed to them in the State Constitution,” she said, adding that, “We need to allow law enforcement to do their jobs. We need to allow the judicial system to do their jobs and the legislature should stick to what’s supposed to be their job, which is to create laws … their job is not to decide what parameters the judge should consider when hearing a case.”
If elected, Houle says she would work towards “true criminal justice reform” that would lead to positive results by working with the “boots on the ground” to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers.
She wants to develop relationships with law enforcement and the justice system to “gather information on the needs of these critical members of criminal justice to bring about common sense reform so that law enforcement can continue to do the job that we hired them to do,” her campaign website reads.
Every vote counts
Houle’s core message for constituents going into this election cycle is that “every vote counts.”
“I cannot impress on everyone enough how important it is to make sure that you get out and vote. If you are a registered conservative, get out and vote on June 25 at the conservative primary, and then if you are registered to a different party or you haven’t assigned a party to yourself at all, make sure that you get out and vote for the November election,” she said.
She added that this election cycle is somewhat unique considering Republicans in Orange County have not had to participate in a primary election for some time.
She said that her campaign will be hosting meet and greets at her campaign office in Florida, New York every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. during the month of June.
“Come in, ask me questions. Talk to me, get to know me. Get to know what I stand for and I am sure that while we work together we are going to be able to get things done,” Houle said.