For three days in May, state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel found out what it was like to be what she called an “elected official on the run.”
“That was a frightening time and I don’t wish it on anyone,” Schimel said during the meeting of the Great Neck Village Officials Association at Kensington’s Village Hall last Wednesday. “I hope everyone never has to go through those three days. It was really traumatic for my children, for myself.”
In her first public comments on the controversy, Schimel described for members of the association how the announcement a month ago that her estranged husband Mark would seek the Republican nomination to run for the 16th Assembly District seat she has held since 2007 sparked a national media frenzy.
Mark Schimel, who was separated from his state Assemblywoman wife after 32 years of marriage nearly one year ago, eventually dropped out of the race to receive the GOP’s bid to run for the 16th Assembly District seat in November’s general election.
In an e-mail to Town of North Hempstead GOP Chairman Frank Moroney on May 14, Mark Schimel cited pressure from members of the media as precipitating his decision to leave the race.
For Michelle Schimel, the media scrutiny was equally as intense.
“I always said ‘you get 15 minutes of fame’ and I said ‘oh my God, this is going to be my 15 minutes of fame about this race,’” recalled Schimel, 54, who is now running against Port Washington Republican Richard Stiek in November’s general election.
Schimel was originally elected to represent the 16th Assembly District five years ago after then state Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli was appointed state comptroller.
The 16th Assembly District consists of Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Herricks, Mineola and East Williston.
Although she declined requests for interviews during the three-day political controversy, issuing only a written statement about her estranged husband’s decision to run for office, Schimel said she was forced to use a bodyguard when in Albany over the course of the three days.
“It was horrible,” Schimel said. “You know that I had a guard. Once I finally got to Albany, I had a guard. I could not go to the bathroom myself.”
While in session, Schimel said she was instructed by a state Assembly spokesperson to remain in her seat.
“The minute you get up, the press will get up and follow you,” Schimel said what she was told by the spokesperson. “I would have to text someone that I had to go to the bathroom. They had to escort me to the bathroom.”
When she was forced to leave her seat in the state Assembly chambers, Schimel said she was inundated with reporters looking for comments on the developing race.
“Literally the moment I stepped out of my seat, it was like piranhas around me,” Schimel said of the reporters. “They don’t take no for an answer. It was relentless. That was the worst of times, but you know what, whatever don’t kill you makes you stronger.”
At the height of the controversy, Schimel said her campaign headquarters was contacted by a producer from ABC World News to be interviewed live by host Diane Sawyer during the Tuesday, May 15 broadcast.
“My campaign guy goes ‘Oh, TV. You gotta do it,’” Schimel recalled. “I said ‘Are you kidding me?’”
Although Schimel said she was pressured by her staff to do the interview, her line of thinking on the decision never wavered.
“Absolutely not,” Schimel said. “Not for this. You want it for local government. You want it for hydrofracking. You want it for guns. I’m there. But for this, no. You know what? I was right.”
Schimel spoke for nearly one hour during last week’s meeting on topics ranging from the state’s budget, which closed a $3.5 billion deficit, to the legislation she sponsored with State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) to allow villages to use lever voting machines for the next two years.
Without that legislation, villages would have been forced to purchase electronic voting machines, or use paper ballots, for local elections.
“I do think it’s going to be signed into law,” Schimel said of bill, which passed in the state Senate and assembly and now is awaiting approval from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “I think you’re not going to see the fanfare you did with the pensions.”
If Cuomo signs the bill into law, Schimel said it will next be brought to local officials to help in creating a more permanent solution to the lever-voting machine situation.
“I’m looking at my districts. I’m looking at my towns. I’m looking at my mayors,” she said. “We are going to have hearing, or at least roundtable discussions. It’s an opportunity for us to teach what local government is.”
Schimel said this year’s session was one of the most productive of her five-year tenure in the state Assembly.
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times,” she said. “Best of times in that I thought I was effective this year. I always think I’m kind of effective. This year I actually felt like I had some juice.”
This year, Schimel said she had nine laws passed in the state Assembly and Senate.
“I actually had fun this year,” she said.
