Chloe Pierce, a nonprofit lobbyist and Democrat from Slingerlands, is running for the 107th Assembly District seat for the second time, taking on Republican incumbent Scott Bendett in a district that stretches from Chatham, Ghent, Stockport, Kinderhook, Valatie and Stuyvesant in southern Columbia County north to Schuylerville and west to Bethlehem and Slingerlands. Pierce lost to Bendett by 4,300 votes in 2024, and this time she is campaigning not only on affordability but on allegations that Bendett fostered a sexist culture tied to events at his cigar shop.
The district has emerged as one of the state's more competitive Assembly battlegrounds, according to cbs6albany.com, which confirms Pierce is the Democratic nominee again challenging Bendett, who is seeking his third Assembly term. The same outlet reports that Bendett won the 2024 contest by a vote of 39,770 to 35,433. Pierce has said her internal polling shows this year's race as neck and neck, according to The Daily Gazette.
Pierce told the Gazette that Bendett is out of touch with the district and that the problem has worsened during the second Trump administration. She also said the district is not getting its fair share from Albany. Pierce has argued that her background gives her standing to make that case: she works as an advocate at the Albany-based lobbying firm Malkin and Ross, as reported by dailygazette.com, and has worked with AARP, the state nurses' union and a coalition of nonprofits that pushed for statewide free school meals.
Affordability and a Push for Single-Payer Healthcare
According to Pierce, affordability is issue number one, as she told news10.com, pointing to housing and energy costs as priorities. Per the Gazette's reporting, Pierce said her advocacy work on free school meals heightened her awareness of food insecurity, and she has voiced support for Nourish New York, the program in which the state buys from local farmers to stock food pantries. The program was created during the pandemic to connect New York agricultural products with food banks serving people experiencing food insecurity, according to a report from osc.ny.gov.
On the question of federal budget cuts, Pierce said taxing the ultra-wealthy and managing state program spending more efficiently could help the state manage the shortfall, per the Gazette. She clarified that she is not talking about small-business owners with a million dollars in assets, but about people like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who she said should pay their fair share in taxes. Pierce has defined a successful first term as delivering tangible improvements in quality of life across the district, saying she would gauge progress by talking with district voters.
Pierce also told the Gazette she plans to push the New York Health Act, which would create a single-payer universal healthcare system in the state, saying passing it would make healthcare a true utility rather than a luxury. She said she would add her name to Assembly Bill 101A, which prohibits using a victim's intoxication as a defense in sex-crime cases, on her first day in office if elected.
Bendett Defends Record on Utility Costs and the Bill
Bendett, for his part, has said the ship has sailed on lowering utility costs unless state Democrats reconsider their energy policies, according to the Gazette's reporting. He has also suggested that state healthcare stop covering cold caps worn by chemotherapy patients as a cost-saving measure. On accessibility, Bendett said he shares his cell phone number with constituents and sponsors events throughout the district, despite holding few town halls.
Pierce has criticized Bendett for not signing onto Assembly Bill 101A. Bendett responded that he contacted the bill's sponsor to get his name added, and suggested Democrats might delay doing so while questioning why the majority party had not already passed the legislation, per the same Gazette report.
Cigar-Shop Controversy Resurfaces
The race has also reopened a controversy from Bendett's time in office. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced in 2024 that he was immediately implementing sanctions recommended by the bipartisan Ethics and Guidance Committee concerning Bendett's conduct, according to a statement from the New York State Assembly. Bendett has said he regrets the intern situation, and that a cigar company hosting an event at his store hired the event models involved, so he was unaware of their backgrounds, per the Gazette's reporting.
Pierce, meanwhile, has said Bendett enabled a sexist and misogynistic culture and harassed an intern, and alleged that his cigar-shop events hired adult-film performers and BDSM models. The 2026 race initially drew a third candidate, political newcomer Christopher Lansing, alongside Bendett and Pierce, according to wamc.org.
A Steep Climb for a Second-Time Challenger
Pierce has said her campaign has a better chance in 2026 because it now has more infrastructure in place and greater momentum, which she has tied to opposition against the Trump presidency, according to the Times Union. That same reporting notes that in the last 16 years, only Steve McLaughlin in 2010 and George Amedore in 2014 managed to win Capital Region state-office bids after previously losing. Bendett ran unopposed in 2022 before facing Pierce for the first time in 2024, according to wamc.org's earlier coverage of the race.
