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Senate Candidate Ali Boak Aims To Clean Up Albany

Ali Boak, one of the Democratic challengers for the 40th Senate District, said people are tired of the culture of corruption in state goverment.

Ali Boak is running for State Senator in the 40th District.

Ali Boak is running for State Senator in the 40th District.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Boak is challenging Andrew Falk in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary. The winner will face Republican incumbent Terrence Murphy, who is running for a second term.

"Legislators in the senate tend to be more concerned with helping themselves then their constituents," Boak said. "That's what motivated me to run."

The Pound Ridge resident, who previously served on the Pound Ridge Town Board and unsuccessfully ran for town supervisor, said she would like to limit outside income and make member items transparent.

"If a person doesn't have integrity, how can constituents expect they can go and get help with their issues," Boak said. 

If elected, Boak said on her first day she would want to pass legislation to limit pensions for corrupt senators. Boak said voters have come up to her and complained about ethically challenged senators. 

Boak said Murphy was one of the ethically challenged legislators.

"It seems that way," she said. "Voters wonder how senators can have ethic violations, or not pay their taxes or correctly fill out financial disclosure forms."

Boak was referring to claims that Murphy's Yorktown restaurant, Murphy's owed $117,000 in back taxes and that Murphy hid ownership of the restaurant in financial disclosure forms. Murphy apologized for the mistake, saying he listed the information in the wrong section and that he has no day-to-day involvement in the restaurant, which is owned by his family.

"I'm very open to challenging the status quo," Boak said. "People are frustrated by the culture of corruption."

According to a release from the New York Senate Republicans, Boak did not disclose her time on the Pound Ridge Town Board nor if she received income from a human trafficking charity she co-founded on her ethics form. She said her only source of income was from a property in Florida. 

Boak also said she wants to change the tax cap rule that forces 60 percent of voters to approve overriding the tax cap for school budgets. 

Boak's local district, Bedford, failed in May when they attempted to override the cap, despite a majority of voters approving the budget.

At the topic of the Democratic ticket will be a resident of Boak's district. Boak said she is excited to be running with Hillary Clinton. Boak is part of a program called Run With Hillary that encourages more female candidates. Only 12 of New York's senators are women.

"I want to keep getting my message out and talking to the voters," Boak said. "Running with Hillary at the top of the ticket certainly can't hurt."

The 40th Senate District includes Beekman and Pawling in Dutchess County, Carmel, Patterson and Southeast and Brewster in Putnam County, and Peekskill, Cortlandt, Lewisboro, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers, Yorktown, Mount Kisco, Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Croton-on-Hudson, Pleasantville and Sleepy Hollow in Westchester.

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