State Senate race between Cooney and VanBrederode expected to be tight race

ROCHESTER – The 56^th State Senate District which covers the City of Rochester, and parts of Brighton, Greece, and Henrietta, is expected to be another tight race. Democratic incumbent Jeremy Cooney is trying to hold-off former Gates Police Chief Jim VanBrederode.           

In these final moments, candidates are trying to win over voters by knocking on doors, participating in phone banks, and doing what they can to get people to come out and vote for them. This race, in particular, has been very focused on crime and criminal justice reforms, you’ve seen the ads. 

Senator Cooney voted in favor of the reforms and still stands by them, although he does say he thinks there is room for discussion when it comes to making some changes.           

Former Police Chief VanBrederode basically says, the reforms have been a disaster and have made our state and city less safe.           

We caught up with both candidates earlier today as they made their final pitch to voters. 

Senator Cooney said, “we are trying to build the next Rochester, what will our chapter look like?  Is it more jobs? Different types of technologies? Is it better types of schools? Is it making sure that we are engaging in public safety conversations in a different way? That’s the future, and that’s what we represent.”

“People want a change. People are very upset there are so many issues right now that are backwards, upside down, and people are not happy. And, I think that early voting showed us exactly how much interest there is in this election. I believe this is the Super Bowl of elections in the past decade that I’ve seen, there’s a lot at stake,” said VanBrederode.

This is a race we will be following closely throughout the evening. Both candidates mentioned to us today, they were optimistic about their chances, especially considering the voter turnout during early voting.