
We continue our series of conversations with candidates running for office.
We begin the first hour with Luis Martínez, candidate for New York State Senate. We talk with him about his platform and priorities for District 55.
Our guest:
- Luis Martínez, candidate for New York State Senate, District 55
Key issues raised by candidate during "Connections" appearance:
- Martínez said he's a businessman and has never been a politician, so he has no agenda other than to bring "the fundamentals back to our society."
- He expressed strong views about immigration issues: "What New York state and other states have done is that they have ignored what we have by way of federal law concerning illegal aliens, and now they reclassify them as asylum-seekers and so forth." He also said there are millions of "illegal aliens that have invaded our border under the current administration," but the State Department is holding back millions of others who want to immigrate here: "They filed the papers, they paid the money, they hired the attorneys. They have suffered for years trying to come to United States legally, and they're being ignored."
- He supports the idea of deportation: "There have to be consequences for coming into the United States illegally."
- Martínez also addressed taxation and inflation, saying "the state acts like it can print money." He added: "We have to reduce our tax ... and also reduce regulation, which also causes inflation indirectly." He said regulations that add costs are hurting small businesses.
- Regarding reproductive health, Martínez noted that the state "has locked in abortion law for the foreseeable future," but he maintained there are "many, many options besides abortion," and he would work to create enough options so women wouldn't have to choose to have the procedure.
- He talked about public safety, saying that "we need to reverse all the laws that ... were turned upside down," referring to bail reform and the Clean Slate Act, and said "there have to be more rights for victims and more consequences for perpetrators."
*Notes: To hear our interview with Martínez's opponent, Samra Brouk, click here.
You can read more about this race and others you'll see on your ballot in the WXXI Local Elections Guide.