Colin Schmitt

Schmitt first ran for office in 2012, campaigning for the Assembly's 99th district.[9] He lost in the primary to Goshen Mayor Kyle Roddey, who in turn lost in the general election to Democrat James Skoufis.[10]

Schmitt ran for the same seat again in 2016.[11] He won the primary uncontested but lost to Skoufis in the general election, 53% to 47%.[12]

In 2018, after Skoufis had declared his campaign for the 39th district of the State Senate, Schmitt announced he would run for the 99th district for a third time.[13] He defeated Democrat Matthew Rettig with 53% of the vote, and was sworn into the Assembly on January 9, 2019.[14]

In 2020, Schmitt defeated Democratic challenger Sarita Bhandarkar to hold his seat. [15] He was widely criticized for underhanded campaign tactics, with the Times Herald Record characterizing his attack website as "vile" and calling on voters to ignore his "nasty" attacks.[16]

Over the course of his four years in the NY Assembly, six of Schmitt 's prime sponsored bills became law. Three of those laws established or renewed hotel taxes in municipalities in his district. Two laws recharacterized local creeks as "inland waterways" and the sixth law permitted a town in the district to convert land that formerly was part of a park into permanent golf course use. Other proposed bills that did not become law included a ban on Critical Race Theory[17] and classroom lessons that made students feel discomfort about racism, and a prohibition on mask guidance or mandates from New York state.[18]

Schmitt met with a pro life group headed to the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The disclosure of this news resulted in immediate calls for Schmitt's resignation, which he resisted.[19] However, his decision to support attendees at the January 6 protest resulted in ongoing, unresolved controversy. [20]

Following the 2020 election, Schmitt announced his candidacy for New York's 18th congressional district in the 2022 election.[21][22] Schmitt was defeated in the general election by incumbent Democrat Pat Ryan in a close race.[23] One of the closest races in the country. [24] Schmitt was supported by local and national small business groups including NFIB. [25] In addition to being a small business advocate, Schmitt campaigned on support for police, tighter border security and tackling the fentanyl crisis. [26] [27] He also campaigned on his purported "veteran" status, which was the source of controversy during the campaign.[28]

On a memo dated March 10, 2023, Clarkstown (NY) Supervisor George Hoehmann informed the town's board which stated that he had hired Schmitt to be the new Director of Finance for the Hudson Valley municipality effective March 13. Schmitt previously served on the local governments committee in the State Legislature and represented parts of Rockland County. [29] Schmitt has been criticized by members of the Clarkstown Town Board and the current Town of New Windsor Supervisor as being unqualified for the role.[30]

Colin Schmitt is an active member in the army national guard, currently serving for over seven years. At the onset of COVID-19 Schmitt was activated with his unit 1569th Transportation Company, for the COVID-19 Relief Mission to distribute PPE throughout the state. [31] [32] Between Christmas and New Years 2022 Schmitt was activated for the Buffalo Blizzard Mission [33]