Minita Sanghvi, a Mumbai-born, presently serving her second term as Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner, has initiated a campaign to vie for a seat in the New York State Senate. The 46-year-old Democrat shared her aspirations to challenge the current Republican incumbent for the 44th Senate district seat in the upcoming November elections during an interview with WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Minita Sanghvi, a marketing professor at Skidmore College, is seeking the 44th District seat presently occupied by Republican Jim Tedisco, a member of the upper chamber since 2017. Sanghvi contends that Tedisco is out of touch with the everyday concerns of citizens, alleging that the 73-year-old has prioritized exacerbating political divisions over addressing fundamental issues.
"I want to put the community first and not play politics," she said. "I have worked with the county and the state when issues come up and solutions need to happen. I'm solution-driven and a problem-solver. Mr. Tedisco is not." "We have infrastructure money coming down the pipe and we have to make sure it is coming to our district," Ms Sanghvi said.
"The district is also growing. We need an innovation corridor, something that connects Saratoga Springs and Schenectady and allows for our academic facilities as well as maker spaces, venture capitalists and incubators to talk to each other. We need new ideas for our district and we don't have them." She also said as a mother, gun safety is one of her priorities, adding that people who own guns are concerned about that, too.
Before her tenure in Saratoga Springs, she also taught at the University of North Carolina, having moved to Saratoga Springs in 2014.