Phyllis Mundy gets a challenger

The pay raise furor has inspired one person to take on a long time incumbent. The TL has the story:

Kingston man is planning to run in the Republican primary election for state Rep. Phyllis Mundy's seat. John C. Cordora, a freelance business broker, said he will officially announce his candidacy Tuesday. Mundy, D-Kingston, was first elected to serve the 120th Legislative District in 1990 and was unopposed in her last election in 2004.

Cordora said his decision to run for the state House of Representatives was ignited by Mundy's support of last year's controversial pay-raise legislation. State legislators increased their pay by 16-34 percent before repealing the legislation in November in response to mounting public anger.

This is good news as I hate unopposed elections. This seat has been traditionally Republican until Mundy beat a crook in 1990 to put in the Democratic column. She had a couple of strong challengers in 1992 and 1994 but has been winning ever since. She was not even opposed last time and beat the Republican candidates by 5000 votes in 2002 and 2000. Her constituent service has been outstanding and her well publicized battles with Blue Cross have put her on the side of the little guy. Her reaction to the news of an opponent is typically classy:

"I look forward to an in-depth discussion of all the issues. We are elected, not coronated. I understand I face the electorate every other year. If you look at my record, it has been to protect and serve the average person in my district."

Her new opponent sounds like he listens to to much talk radio:

In a news release, Cordora also attacked Mundy for supporting "abortion on demand, higher taxes, gay marriage and all the other liberal garbage."