On Jan. 20, Dorey Houle, held a grand opening event for her new campaign office located in Florida, New York, marking a major step forward in her bid to represent District 42 in the New York State Senate.
Houle, a “principled Republican fighter,” previously worked as a college lecturer at the College of Staten Island (CSI) where she successfully directed an American Sign Language (ASL) program.
She is also an experienced member of Monroe’s Town board, having previously served as a trustee with the Village of Monroe, New York.
Raised on Staten Island, she moved to the Village of Monroe in 2014.
On Saturday, in conversation with Vision Times, Houle said, “I am so excited to be able to fight for everyone who is feeling the pain of the policies that are being put forth by our current state legislature,” adding that, “New York is such a wonderful place to be and I know we can get it back to being the wonderful Empire State that it once was.”
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Houle will be facing off against Democrat incumbent James Skoufis, who eked out a win against Houle in 2022 by just 1,170 votes.
According to USA Today, in 2022, Houle garnered 49.4 percent of the vote to Skoufis’ 50.06 percent.
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‘Common sense wave’
Backing Houle is long-time New York State Republican Alison Esposito, who was in attendance on Saturday and addressed the crowd of supporters saying, “This is not a red wave that we need, it’s a common sense wave that we need, it’s a red, white and blue wave that we need.”
“We need independent’s, Democrats, Republicans all banding together to stand up and say ‘Enough. Enough!’ We are fighting for the heart and soul of our country and our community and we need people like Dorey to get into office so that we can bring common sense back to Albany, back to New York, and back to the United States of America and, with your help, we will,” Esposito said.
Esposito addressed the polarized nature of politics and encouraged voters to open up communication with people who see things differently.
“It’s time we start talking again,” she said, adding that, “We are fighting for our American values, we are fighting for our New York values. This is the greatest state in the greatest country, and look at what’s happened … They are taking away our freedoms day by day. They are overregulating our businesses. They are telling you how to raise your children. They are telling you where you can and cannot be. They are telling you what medicine to stick in your arm. It’s enough. It’s enough.”
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Recognizing a local hero
“Our community is made up of people who serve every single day, and they serve from very different positions. Many of them serve behind the greatest cape of all which is a uniform,” Houle told her crowd of supporters.
Houle comes from a long legacy of public service. She is the daughter of a NYC Fire Lieutenant and wife of a NYPD officer and retired combat veteran. Her eldest son also currently serves in the armed forces.
During her grand opening event, Houle took the opportunity to recognize the heroics of a local first responder, Kevin Columbo.
Recently, Columbo was heading home after a long shift at the Port Authority Police Department when he came upon a head-on collision along route 17A in Warwick.
Relying on his training as a police officer and a volunteer firefighter, Columbo took action freeing one passenger from one vehicle, and two others from the other vehicle which was in danger of exploding due to an engine fire.
Columbo’s father, Ken, was in attendance at Houle’s grand opening event, and received a certificate of appreciation on behalf of his son who was busy serving his community.
“I would like to present to his father this certificate of appreciation on behalf of us, Dorey Houle for State Senate, but also on behalf of the entire community; the community of Warwick, the community of Orange County, and the community of New York State, thank you so much for coming,” Houle said.
