Underwater or underdog: Assini's surprising bounce back into Rochester's political scene
Mark Assini is a name that many Republicans and political operatives in Rochester and Monroe County will certainly recognize when discussing the dynamic political landscape. An influential part of local and regional policy making, he is praised, and criticized, by many. But when the name, seemingly out of the blue, came back into the spotlight with this year's County Executive race, many were justifiably surprised. He had been out of the official political arena for five years, and it seemed the County Republican party was heading in a different direction.That was, until now.
Assini’s rise back to power is coupled with an interesting time in Rochester: a list of troubles for County Executive Adam Bello. In May of this past year, Bello set the foundation for a cascading array of crises which would shape the County Executive race, with some of the most recent being his handling of the county's migrant housing and his new personal security detail. Many in Rochester say that Bello’s crisis is just a minor inconvenience for the campaign, but the real proof to the pudding is in his fundraising.
According to WXXI as of late July, Bello's campaign has out fundraised Assini’s campaign by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1, with almost half a million in his war chest. At face value, one would consider this a major weakness for Assini and his allies. Looking at Assini’s previous races shows an even more complex story.
When Assini first attempted to run for Congress against the late Congresswoman Louise Slaughter in 2014, he was in a very similar position to now. Being out fundraised by a ratio of nearly 6 to 1, many doubted the freshman town supervisor's ability to win a race against an established Democrat, who was known for her consistent support from organized labor and unions. The result of Assini’s uphill battle? A virtual tie. With Congresswoman Slaughter only winning the seat by a narrow margin of about 900 votes. With such a close race, Assini ran again with support from the county GOP in 2016, and that time, lost by a sizable margin. Left defeated, he slowly crept away from the political scene, eventually continuing to work in the private sector. One question remains largely unknown though, even as Assini plows ahead to the general elections this November.
Why now?
To find an answer to this question, I sat down with Assini one on one, and tried to gain a new perspective of his thoughts on his new run for office. One major component of the Assini campaign is the message of optimism for the future. “There is one thing that is more powerful than money, and that is an idea whose time has come,” the aspiring County Executive candidate remarked.
Sitting down with such an established politician, you could tell the care and thought behind what Assini was saying. Much of the conversation that was had highlighted the uphill challenges Assini faces, with him addressing many components of the election. From crime, to immigration, to the economy, Assini has a completely new idea for the direction of Monroe County compared to his opponent.
According to the County's budget allotment in 2022-2023, the county allocated funds for over a thousand sheriffs. As of September, only about 800 of those positions have been filled, alarming Assini as his opponent tries to change his approach to law enforcement funding ahead of a closer election than his 2019 run. “The question I have for Bello is, why did you wait four years? Why did you wait right before an election to come out and say you would hire more police?”.
Assini primarily emphasized his frustration with the fact that so many people, especially in the city community, were negatively impacted by a lack of law enforcement funding at a time when Rochester's crime rate was one of the highest in the nation. In fact, the city saw its homicide rate per capita almost double over a two year time period according to the Democrat and Chronicle. Assini had a very interesting interpretation of the issue and how it may be addressed, veering from his party in a way that only the Gates Republican could pull off, emphasizing not just increasing police funding, but also forming more community outreach.
He also addressed the rampant poverty that is striking our city, and how it disproportionately is affecting children in our city schools. “We have the second highest poverty rate for any city with a population over one hundred thousand in America. Our families are in trauma, and our families feel forgotten…If we just hire police and ignore the families that are struggling, this equation will never work.” Assini exclaimed, while also talking about a faith-based approach to rebuild burned or broken bridges to all corners of the county.
There is no doubt that Mark Assini isn't going out without a fight during this election cycle. The main question is: Is Assini underwater or an underdog? One of the last things he said when asked about addressing our community's core problems was that “You fail when you give up…and I'm not going anywhere. The first step to any problem is coming up with a methodology to fix it”. I think this answer speaks volumes to the question in itself, and reveals the true fighter Assini has proved to be, even though under immense pressure and financial restrictions. One can speculate, but the real reveal will be on November 7th.
The Bloom reached out to the Bello Campaign for comment on Bello's new security detail. The campaign has not responded to The Bloom's request for commentary when this article was published.
Written by Austin DeLorme
