CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — One week after Republican State Senator Mike Ranzenhofer announced he will not be seeking re-election next year for his District 61 seat, Amherst business owner Joan Seamans said she would run for that seat.
Seamans is a former trustee for the Village of Williamsville and past president of the Williamsville Business Association.
She was in Cheektowaga on Saturday for her formal announcement.
This isn't the first time Seamans went after the District 61 seat. The Democratic candidate also ran against Ranzenhofer in 2018.
"My primary focus when I get into the Senate is to work on the health care crisis," Seamans said. "We need to address that. We need to have smart solutions for that, but to make sure that people aren't losing their homes or becoming sicker because they don't have health care. So, health care's a super priority."
It was just this past Friday that Senator Ranzenhofer announced he is retiring at the end of next year.
He was one of a handful of Republican state senators announcing in the past two weeks their plans not to seek re-election in 2020.