A former member of the Mount Vernon City Council, Ruth Thompson has represented this district, which includes parts of Westchester as well as the Bronx since 2000.
On Election Day, she faces Curtis Brooks, who tried in vain to unseat her in 2006.
Thompson has said cutting spending and trying to make government operate more efficiently would be top priorities in Albany next year, although she also hopes to try to prevent cuts n education. Over the years she has worked for and with a number of organizations that promote the interest of minority business owners.
Brooks, a 68-year-old housing developer who lives in the Bronx, , has mounted seven unsuccessful campaigns for elected office, including Congressional and New York City Council, according to the Journal News. He has been in little evidence this year, not submitting answers to various candidate questionnaires. In 2006, when he also ran against Thompson he said his top priorities would be "political reform, educational reform, immigration reform."
Thompson raised $28,670, according to her 32Day Pre-General campaign finance report, and spent all but about$1,000 of it. Records for Brooks were not available.