Tonight: State Senator Marty Golden To Debate Challenger In Bay Ridge
Republican State Senator Marty Golden is facing a Democratic challenge on ballots this November, this time from Bay Ridge’s James Kemmerer.
The 12-year incumbent pol, who lost most of Bay Ridge but comfortably won the district as a whole with a 16-point margin, will debate his opponent tonight at the Bay Ridge Community Council’s “Great Debate.”
Kemmerer confirmed his candidacy to Bensonhurst Bean in May, backed by t
he Bay Ridge Democrats, a progressive Democratic club. He’s a small business owner who has lived in Bay Ridge for about a decade. So far, his campaign has depicted Golden as a target of the Moreland anti-corruption commission in the pocket of developers and big business. Kemmerer is running as the good government candidate, and is pushing public financing of elections.It’s the first debate between the two. When challenged in 2012 by Andrew Gounardes, the debate turned feisty; with a lot of the same people backing Kemmerer, there’s a good shot tonight’s debate will be similarly informative and exciting.
The event takes place at Holy Angels Catholic Academy, 337 74th Street, at 7:30pm.
Correction (1:59pm): The original version of this article erroneously stated that James Kemmerer has “lived in this website for about a decade.” That was a mistake. James Kemmerer does not, and likely has never, lived in a website – this one, or any other. He lives in Bay Ridge. He previously lived in Pennsylvania, which is certainly less interesting than living in a website, but definitely more factual and infinitely more possible.