Anti-Climax in 50th State Senate Race

There are a couple pieces of news in what has so far been a quiet race in the 50th State Senate district. Longtime Republican incumbent Senator John DeFrancisco had a press conference last week to make a major announcement. At the start of his speech, he seemed to indicate an intention to retire. Not so. The Senator made it clear that he will be running for re-election this year and that he intends to win. On the Democrat side, County Legislator Tom Buckel, who has been considering a run for several months, decided not to pursue the seat. In other words, we are right back where we started. A Democrat may yet surface to challenge DeFrancisco, but it would be an uphill climb.