Republican Pamela Helming has comfortably held onto the 54th Senate District seat, handily defeating Democratic challenger Kenan Baldridge.
The seat covers Riga, Chili, Wheatland, Rush, and Mendon, along with Wayne, Ontario, and Livingston counties. Helming had held a sizable lead over Baldridge all of Tuesday night, but technical difficulties at the Monroe County Board of Elections had slowed a final result from being released.
With all votes tallied at the New York State Board of Elections, Helming carried roughly 65 percent of the votes. Baldridge, a former town of Rose supervisor, had pulled in about 32 percent of the vote.
Helming has represented the 54th District in the state Senate since 2017. She’s a resident of Canandaigua and she previously served as town supervisor and a member of the Town Board. She co-sponsored legislation, signed into law this past January, to create a state task force on rural ambulance services. Her priorities have included bolstering agriculture and protecting water quality, though she’s also a gun-rights supporter who has introduced legislation that would affirm competitive shooting sports clubs and events can continue under new state gun laws.
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Like many of her Republican counterparts, Helming has called for state lawmakers to roll back recent bail and parole reforms.
Baldridge was Rose town supervisor in Wayne County for eight years starting in 2012, and he previously served an 11-year stint on the North Rose-Wolcott school board. Baldridge has said that he wants the state to boost funding for child care programs, which he would like to see tied into public schools; dedicate more state funding for rural fire and ambulance departments; and address disparities in health care and insurance.
A volunteer firefighter for 45 years, Baldridge helped form a volunteer organization that brought advanced life support services to ambulance providers in northeast Wayne County. He has a professional background in health care administration and consulting.
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