Marisa McClinton had hoped to break the Republican stranglehold on the Plattekill Town Board in this November’s election. But she’s pulled out of the race, blasting the town’s Democratic Committee for a lack of support on her way out.

“I wanted to run for the Town Board because there is still a desperate need for actual collective change,” McClinton said in an interview with the Southern Ulster Times. “Not just grandstanding to be in the newspaper. I wanted to run because I’m a proactive person.”

McClinton, 40, is a habilitation specialist with the state Office of People with Developmental Disabilities.

In her first bid for office, she lost to incumbent Republican Kevin Roberts in the race for the Ulster County Legislature District 12 (Town of Plattekill) seat two years ago.

While McClinton was looking forward to the Town Board campaign, she felt it was going to be an uphill battle because she claimed she didn’t get the backing needed from Democrats in her own town. She said her positions weren’t supported by her own party.

“There was a lot of backlash and pushback with those new progressive ideals,” she said. “I was butting heads with a lot of the committee and a lot of the people that supported that committee. I didn’t feel like I was going to do anything with this type of atmosphere. The problem is much larger than some surface ideal that it’s a ‘red town.’ The voters want change, but the local Dems are too blind and the local Republicans are too prideful. Both (are) ignoring the major needs of the town while occupying their head space with vendettas that are 80 years old.”

Incumbents Wilfrido Castillo Jr. and James Fazio and newcomer Joe Hoppenstedt are the three endorsed Republicans running for the Town Board in November.

The three Republicans apparently will have a free ride in the election as McClinton has been joined on the sidelines by Democrat Mike Jurkovic, who has also suspended his campaign for the Town Board.
But unlike McClinton, Jurkovic said he didn’t pull out of the race due to lack of support from Plattekill Democrats.

“It has nothing to do with the work or support of the strong, dedicated volunteers of the Plattekill Democratic Committee (PDC),” Jurkovic said. “My background has always been in the arts and I made the decision that I can bring the arts to Plattekill easier through the channels I have always employed than through political ones.”

Betty Diorio, chair of the Plattekill Democratic Committee, responded to McClinton’s charges with a statement on Saturday.

“I’m very proud of my Democratic committee here in Plattekill,” Diorio said. “We worked very hard to get Marisa McClinton and Mike Jurkovic on the ballot with our petitioning efforts. I am disappointed that Ms. McClinton felt that she had to withdraw and the PDC will continue to work hard for Mike Lembo for Town Supervisor, Deb Clinton for County Legislator, Annamaria Maciocia for Town Justice, Jen Metzger for County Executive and Manny Nneji for District Attorney and our Supreme Court Judges.”

Plattekill Councilman Dean DePew Sr. is the GOP candidate running against Lembo to replace Republican Supervisor Jennifer Salemo, who chose not to run for a second two-year term.