POUGHKEEPSIE – Democratic Legislator Lisa Kaul is announcing her campaign to run for New York State Senate District 39 against incumbent Senator Rob Rolison, a Republican.
Kaul was recently re-elected to the Dutchess County Legislature, where she represents a portion of the Town of Poughkeepsie in District 6 and joins City of Poughkeepsie Second Ward Councilman Evan Menist in seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Rolison.
“I’m running because we are at a critical moment. Working people are being crushed by rising costs. Our freedoms and basic dignity are under attack. And climate change threatens our future,” said Kaul. “I’m running because we all deserve the opportunity to thrive, not just make ends meet. To get there, we need new leadership who will fight and deliver for us.”
As the County Legislator representing District 6 (Town of Poughkeepsie), Kaul said she has forged cooperation between state, county, and municipal governments to bring resources where they are needed. She said after a decade of partisan impasse, she worked across the aisle to solve environmental and infrastructure problems, obtaining funds for a new waste management strategy. The local lawmaker said she will bring the same solutions-oriented approach to Albany.
Kaul grew up in India where her mother was a teacher and her father was a career army officer. “We didn’t always have clean water or uninterrupted power, so I learned early on that basic, reliable infrastructure is precious,” Kaul said. “We didn’t have a lot, but my father’s job gave us healthcare, food and housing, and it gave me a secure launchpad. My parents taught me to live within my means and showed me what a life of service and good citizenship look like.”
After completing college in India, she won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where she earned a PhD. In 2004, she and her husband moved to the US, where they raised their son. In 2008, she became an American citizen. In the 21 years that she’s lived here, she has contributed extensively to her community in the Hudson Valley. She led the successful fight to keep her local elementary school from closing, was elected to the Board of Education, and organized the Poughkeepsie Women’s March Across the Hudson.
She volunteers actively with local community organizations, serves on the board of Planned Parenthood Greater New York Action Fund, and created and runs a Repair Café where neighbors help each other mend things to keep them out of the landfills.
In 2023, Kaul defeated a Republican who had held public office for 17 years and won with 58 percent of the vote, becoming the first Asian American Pacific Islander legislator to serve in the county. In 2025, she ran unopposed.
Kaul cites housing, healthcare, education, and food insecurity as key issues in the upcoming election. Legislator Kaul also plans to address what she says is “inadequate” childcare and eldercare during the campaign.
Senate District 39 represents the majority of Dutchess County, including the City and Town of Poughkeepsie, Wappinger, East Fishkill, and the City of Beacon. In Putnam County, the district encompasses Putnam Valley and Philipstown. The district goes across the Hudson River to Orange County to represent the City and Town of Newburgh and the Town of Montgomery.
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