Affordability, Immigration, SNAP Among Voters’ Top Concerns in Orange County

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y.—Major incumbents in the statewide and local elections for western Orange County were reelected in the Nov. 3 midterms. Residents’ main issues included affordability, immigration, and government cuts to food assistance.

The Epoch Times spoke with Carl DiSimone, a former Frito-Lay truck driver and Middletown native, at the Mount Hope Senior Center on Nov. 3 after he voted. He said his biggest issue this election was affordability.

“Our electric bills doubled this year, and when we’re on a fixed income, it’s very hard to do it when you’re on a fixed income. Everything has gone up, and they’re not doing anything about it,” he said.

DiSimone said the most important election this cycle was the gubernatorial race, as it has the biggest impact on the cost of living.

“We’ve had her for four years, and she didn’t change anything. She just made it worse,” he said, referring to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Hochul retained her office against Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman with 60 percent of the vote.

DiSimone opposed the 2019 New York bail reform and said Hochul and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, under whom Hochul served as lieutenant governor, were to blame for dangerous criminals being legally released.

DiSimone also did not agree with all the new gun restrictions enacted under Hochul.

He described himself as an independent voter, union supporter, and former Democrat. He said the Democrats lean toward unions more than Republicans do and that the Democrats’ support for unchecked immigration is part of what turned him away.

DiSimone has an issue with both sides: neither treats veterans well. His father died from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, which he caught from toxic water at Camp Lejeune, and he said that while his father was alive, he did not receive enough aid from the government to properly care for him.

“It’s all the politicians. They don’t do anything for these guys. It’s both sides,” DiSimone said.

Carman Prisco told The Epoch Times that he is against the current federal government.

“The gas is too high. The food is too high. The tariffs are stupid. Our president is stupid. I probably shouldn’t say that, but that’s the truth. The rich are getting richer. The poor are paying the price. I feel like a slave,” he said.

The gubernatorial race mattered most to him as well.

“They got to take care of the middle class, and they’re not doing it,” he said.

Prisco opposes the war with Iran and believes that the rich are not taxed enough.

“​They got more than they can spend, and they want more, and they don’t want to pay taxes. That’s just stupid,” he said.

He said there was no question about voting in this election: “Everybody should be voting. It’s just disgusting. Our country is going downhill.”

Prisco said he is a meritocratic independent.

“I think the best person should be the one who’s elected. … Party lines, there’s got to be good and bad in both parties. I have friends [who say], ‘There are no bad Republicans and no good Democrats.’ And you know, [that] just can’t be,” he said.

The Epoch Times spoke with Christina, the mother of a 5-year-old daughter who recently moved from New York City, outside the Mulberry House Senior Center polling location in Middletown. She focused on affordability and spreading New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies.

She believes that Mamdani’s ideas should be implemented elsewhere in New York.

“I think he had some really good ideas,” Christina said. “Looking at children, universal pre-K, overall affordability when it came to different types of grocery stores and how people can access food, and … just pouring more money into people and allowing them to have more creative endeavors and building them up so they have skills to enter into the workforce.”

She said the most important race was the governor’s race and that people should participate in local politics.

“Stay engaged in your community. It’s so important. ​​Even though I said governor was the most important race, and that’s not really community level, it starts here. Your school board, more local elections,” Christina said.

Coleen Robb, 59, is a lifelong Republican who said she voted for the Democratic Party for the first time. She said she wanted to protect her children’s rights and the ability to live.

“I always thought that if you want to make it in America, you have to work really hard, and you shouldn’t be giving handouts,” Robb said.

“But then now seeing how it’s gone extremely opposite, where people are really trying, and they’re not getting the help just when they can’t get the opportunity they need to take care of their families.”

She works at a nonprofit for people with fundamental disabilities, and it matters to her when she sees fears that funding will go away.

“I just don’t believe in the messaging that’s going on and all the things that are being taken away from people, like SNAP,” Robb said.

For her, this election was about changing the country’s political balance: “The most important thing to me is to stop the dictatorship that we have right now in this country, that not one person should have that much power.”

Election Results

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) defeated Republican Jackie Auringer in New York’s 18th Congressional District. District 18 has a population of nearly 798,000 and covers all of Orange County and parts of Dutchess and Ulster counties. Orange County voters selected Ryan with 60.4 percent of the vote (74,220 votes) to Auringer’s 39.6 percent (48,677 votes).

Ryan has served in Congress since 2022.

The state Senate’s 42nd District, which covers much of Orange County, kept its representative, state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat. Skoufis received 60.32 percent of the vote (59,378 votes total), while his opponents, Republican Jennifer Figueroa and conservative Joshua Blumenthal, received 35.90 percent and 3.68 percent, respectively.

The 42nd state senate district has a population of 322,917 as of 2024. Skoufis has served in the New York state Senate since 2019, and the next election for the position will be held in 2028 during the General Election.

Longtime State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a Democrat, won against Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez, taking 62.85 percent of the vote as of Nov. 6. DiNapoli has been the New York state comptroller since 2007.

Voters will decide the comptroller’s race again in 2030.

Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta kept his position against Democratic challenger Bernie Rivers, winning 52 percent of the vote, or 63,364 votes, against Rivers’ 48 percent, or 58,281 votes. Arteta was first elected county sheriff in 2022, and he will face reelection in 2030.

Three towns in the area had competitive supervisor races this election, while the rest had no competition. Supervisors serve two-year terms.

In the Town of Wallkill, incumbent Democrat Frank DenDanto III defeated Republican Jillian Wilkins for supervisor, taking 56.25 percent of the ballots cast. Wilkins took 43.63 percent. DenDanto was elected supervisor in 2019 and again in 2025.

Town of Deerpark Republican Supervisor Alan Schock won 65.97 percent against challenging Democrat Stephanie Vandemark, 1,665 votes to 855. Schock was appointed as supervisor on Aug. 10.

Republican Denise Quinn will be starting her fourth term as Town of Wawayanda supervisor, winning 54.15 percent of the vote against Democrat Charles Kangethe’s 45.85 percent. The total votes cast were 1,528 votes to 1,294.