Scott Comegys was born in Camden, Delaware. He earned a high school diploma from East High School and an associate degree from Monroe Community College in 2016. Comegys' professional experience includes being an alpaca farmer, the manager of facilities at the University of Rochester, and an assessor's clerk for the town of Palmyra.[1][2][3]
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Scott Comegys advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 54.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Pamela Helming advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 54.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Pamela Helming advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 54.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Comegys in this election.
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Scott Comegys advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Brian Manktelow advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Brian Manktelow advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Working Families Party primary election
The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Scott Comegys advanced from the Working Families Party primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Scott Comegys advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Brian Manktelow advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Brian Manktelow advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Independence Party primary election
The Independence Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Brian Manktelow advanced from the Independence Party primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Serve America Movement Party primary election
The Serve America Movement Party primary election was canceled. Scott Comegys advanced from the Serve America Movement Party primary for New York State Assembly District 130.
Scott Comegys completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Comegys' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
I am, in particular order, an alpaca farmer, husband, father, business manager, activist, organizer, health care advocate, research recruiter, and Chair of the Wayne County (NY) Democratic Committee. I am also an outdoor enthusiast, musician, and martial artist. I've lived in the Finger Lakes area all of my life, growing up in the City of Rochester and making a living there before moving to Wayne County with my wife to build our alpaca farm and raise our kids in a rural setting. I have managed operations ranging from retail to movie theatres to facilities at the University of Rochester, volunteered with several organizations that delivered food to those in need, organized for common sense justice reforms, and increased awareness for topics from healthcare to the climate crisis.
This campaign is about achieving goals, the prime goal being to create a society in which everyone can successfully live the lives they choose as their genuine self with dignity, prosperity, security, and justice.
In order to achieve our goals we must establish trust in the community and with our government by ensuring that those serving are fairly elected, are held accountable and must answer to those they serve, and by delivering resources that uplift all communities.
Government is a partner and has a role to play with achieving our goals as a community, focusing on those areas where we, as citizens, are all affected, such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, housing, environmental stewardship, and access to fresh food and clean air and water. Working together in this partnership we can move forward to achieve the prime goal of everyone successfully living their lives.
An elected official must be dedicated to the whole community thriving, be a critical thinker and creative problem solver, have a vision of what that means and be able to communicate that vision, yet be open minded to other perspectives, accessible to the people so ideas can be exchanged and the best solutions created, even when those solutions may defy their own preferences. Elected officials should understand both the fact that government has a limited role in peoples' lives, but also understand that role to be significant as it provides for areas of common concern such as infrastructure, healthcare, emergency services, defense, education, access to housing, healthy food, clean air and water, a fair and equitable economy, and preserving a healthy environment. Elected officials should be open, honest, and transparent about the work they do, encourage people to engage with them, vote, and run for office themselves. Elected officials should celebrate the successes of the people, comfort the people when there are losses, and always lead the people to move forward and do better.
While I have a vision for the future of our state and the Finger Lakes I am always finding creative solutions for ensuring that everyone in our communities can live successful lives as they define that success. At the same time I am also striving to include others to add to the work that can be done and am always open to constructive ideas for how to move forward as a community. To be most effective I know that the work that we do in the state legislature is a collaboration and bring people together for that collaboration.
Planned Parenthood Empire State Votes, Citizen Action of NY, UAW, National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund, Working Families Party, NY Democratic Committees of Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, and Wayne Counties, US Congressman Joe Morelle, NY State Senators Samra Brouk and Jeremy Cooney, NYS Assemblymembers Harry Bronson and Jen Lunsford
As trust is critical for us to move forward it is imperative that government is completely transparent with how it conducts its business, whether that is how we build a budget, what the spending priorities are, or what information is helping us to arrive at our conclusions. That information has to be available to citizens so that we can hold our legislators accountable for their actions and their votes and ensure that they are working earnestly for the benefit of the community.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Comegys submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on October 7, 2024.
I am an alpaca farmer, public servant, and community organizer. For the past 6 years I have been standing up for our communities, organizing with people, and leading a movement to get past the partisan fighting that has us bogged down and get us moving forward to achieve a goal of everyone in our society being enabled and empowered to successfully live the lives they choose as their genuine self with dignity, prosperity, security, and justice.
Before we can do anything to move forward we have to re-establish the relationship between the People and Our Government. We have allowed ourselves to be divided and led into constantly fighting amongst ourselves and our government.
Moving forward means increasing transparency, accessibility, and participation so the government is held accountable and serves all of the People.
We have to make New York State an affordable place to live.
New York State, and the Finger Lakes in particular, is an incredible place to live, work, play, and raise a family. With the right investments in education, infrastructure, and development we can ensure a strong and sustainable economy that provides for everyone's basic needs, enables people now and in the future to improve and achieve the lives they choose.
We have to ensure that the rural areas of New York State are included in how the state moves forward.
Too often the rural areas of our state are left out of the work being done for us by New York State, and our needs are not being met.
Yet the state depends on our rural areas and their contributions to the culture, and economy of the state.
There is opportunity for rural areas like the Finger Lakes to thrive, but only with representation that actively seeks collaboration instead of opposition.
First and foremost elected officials need to understand that they serve the public and should act with benefitting the whole public in mind. This means that no matter your personal background or what may personally benefit you or your family, you have to consider and act to ensure that everyone benefits and not just yourself.
Elected officials should meet the people they represent and serve where they work and live in order to appreciate the needs and concerns and hopes of their constituency. They should be accessible to all of the people so that they can establish and build trust. Most of the job is about listening to the people you serve in order to come up with the solutions the people need.
Elected officials should have an open mind and should be able to understand the varied perspectives, issues, and proposed solutions that people have for their communities. Without an open mind an elected official cannot truly be able to deliver what their community needs and may miss opportunities for the community to improve and prosper.
Elected officials should be creative, critical thinkers, able to use reason and logic to examine the needs of their community and come up with policies and programs that have lasting positive impacts.
Elected officials should always start their thinking about issues with how things are affected from the bottom up. If those who are in the greatest need are served well and have their needs being met then meeting the needs of everyone else and ensuring their prosperity becomes less challenging.
A state senator should represent the perspectives and will of the people they represent in the laws and policies being made in the state, draft and vote for those policies and programs, and deliver resources from the state to enable each of the communities they represent to address the needs and growth of each community. State Senators should report back to the public about the legislation being worked on at town halls, forums, public notices and statements, and interaction with the press. State senators should also assist their individual constituents with any state program they are concerned with, honor notable constituents and groups with appropriate commendations, and be present to celebrate with the public at festivals and public functions.
Ultimately I would like to know that the work I do resulted in people for many generations to freely and successfully live their lives, secure in themselves and how they thrive. I would, therefore, like to make sure that we had a universal healthcare system in place, ensure that education was always fully funded and supported, our environment was always healthy, and that our infrastructure always supported the needs of the people.
Ideally the state legislature and governor should have a partnership with constructive criticism. Both branches should be acting to serve the public good, but the legislature should be working more closely with the public and determining what the governor, ultimately, will enact. Both branches should feel it necessary to closely examine the work of the other and feel free to criticize and hold each other accountable to the public.
Healing the divide that previous politicians have created between urban, suburban, and rural communities, improving infrastructure to be more resilient and responsive to the threat of Climate Disruption, and having the courage to find the funding to advance solutions for healthcare, housing, and education while balancing what the people can afford are the greatest challenges New York State faces.
It is not necessary for legislators to have previous experience in government. It is necessary for them to have good critical thinking skills, creativity, and a genuine desire to serve the public. The mechanics of government can be learned.
It is absolutely necessary to build good partnerships with other legislators. Without those partnerships the work simply cannot get done, or if there is work done, it likely will not truly serve the entire state. State legislators certainly need to act and think with the intent of benefitting their constituents, but not only their constituents. They have to act with the whole state in mind as well. In order to do that, a legislator will need to have partnerships with other legislators and government entities.
Planned Parenthood Empire State Votes, Citizens Action of New York, Assemblymember Harry Bronson, Assemblymember Jen Lunsford, NY State Senator Jeremy Cooney, Working Families Party, Democratic Committees of Lingston, Monroe, Ontario, and Wayne Counties
Agriculture, Budget and Revenue, Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business, Education, Health, Environmental Conservation, Energy and Telecommunications, Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation, State Native American Relations, Labor
In order to establish and build trust with the people it serves a government must be as transparent as possible with all of its functions, especially financial ones. It is only with this transparency that the people can ultimately hold its government accountable and change the people who serve them when necessary.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Comegys submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on June 24, 2024.
2022
Scott Comegys completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Comegys' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
I am a husband, father, alpaca farmer, outdoor enthusiast, public servant, and community organizer. For the past 5 years I have been I've been standing up for our communities, organizing with people, and leading a movement to get past the partisan fighting that has been holding all of us back and get us moving forward to becoming a society in which everyone, as long as they do not seek to harm others, can successfully live the lives they choose with dignity, prosperity, security, and justice.
We have to establish trust between the People and their government, reminding ourselves that our government is not separate from us, it is us, and we can use it to make things better.
We must address poverty in our nation, removing barriers that keep people in poverty and enacting policies that help to lift us all up and build a stronger, sustainable economy that works for everyone.
Recognizing and protecting Human Rights is at the heart of our nation and we must defend the advances we have made so that everyone can enjoy their full measure of liberty, opportunity, and prosperity in our nation.
Healthcare, Education, Environmental protection, Economic and Workforce Development especially concerning rural areas
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Comegys submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on October 26, 2022.
I am an alpaca farmer, husband, father, community organizer, outdoor enthusiast, and public servant who wants to make sure that everyone in our state is able to successfully live the lives they choose with dignity, prosperity, security, justice, and happiness and that the rural areas of the Finger Lakes have more of a voice in how the state of New York moves forward.
My main focus is combatting poverty by getting the things that keep people in poverty out of the way. Healthcare, infrastructure, and education are the first barriers to overcome and addressing them supports a more robust, sustainable society and economy.
Its's time to establish trust in our government by involving the People more and helping them to use their voice and power to create our future. I am committed to making elections more accessible to ensure that everyone has a voice.
We must preserve and protect the human and civil rights that we have fought to have recognized in our nation and move forward so that everyone in our nation is treated fairly, equitably and are empowered to live their lives with confidence and security.
I am passionate about supporting sustainable agriculture and rural economies, understanding that our rural areas can thrive again by encouraging new farmers to establish themselves, supporting new agricultural products along with our current crops, encouraging the processing of crops to be done in the area, encouraging preservation of parks, coasts, and wetlands to encourage eco-tourism, and encouraging the development of renewable energy infrastructure in the area that can help reduce the rate of climate disruption, create good jobs, and can help to keep family farms and businesses going.
I am passionate about ensuring that everyone has both healthcare coverage that eliminates the worries of personal healthcare costs and that they have access to healthcare providers. By eliminating the insecurity of healthcare coverage we enable more people the ability to use the healthcare providers more readily and reduce the impacts of waiting to take care of health issues (which, in turn helps to reduce loss of productivity, reduce overall healthcare costs due to earlier interventions, and allows for healthier living), start their own businesses or to have the security to do the jobs they desire without fearing loss of coverage, create more good paying jobs, instill confidence in the area to potential businesses who want to ensure that their employees in the area are supported.
I am very passionate about Civil and Human rights and have been very active in this area in my community.
First and foremost, always conduct yourself with honor and honesty. The People must be able to trust that you will do as you say and will act with their interests in mind above political party and ego.
Second, be accessible to the People. Part of the job is to register the will of the public, which is not cohesive, and so every perspective must be heard, acknowledged, and considered with an open mind.
Third, have a vision of what you want to do and communicate that vision. Lead.
Fourth, have the courage to do what is in the best interest of the People, even if it is not what you consider your personal best interest. What is in the best interest of the People is what will have the greatest impact attaining the goal of them successfully living the lives they choose (without doing harm to others) with dignity, prosperity, security, and justice. Have the courage to do this work even if it means you won't get re-elected.
I could name a few events that might be viewed as historical. I remember Jimmy Carter winning the Presidential election when I was in kindergarten. I remember Star Wars coming out and seeing it in theatres many times. I remember Ronald Reagan's election to President. Yet the one event that sticks out most is the space shuttle Challenger explosion, watching the launch with friends, and the shock of the explosion. It reminded me that even in the midst of great success, there are times where we are halted in the worst way, yet if you believe in the goal you find the will to move forward.
My very first job was at a grocery store called "Danny's Apples" where I worked as a frozen/ dairy clerk. I worked there for about a year from the summer prior to my senior year in high school, through high school, and the next summer before initially heading to college.
Priorities.
The state needs to prioritize the supports that the People need before attempting to enact policies and projects that are more "eye catching" like new stadiums. With the priorities straight, we can build trust with the People and eventually get to a point where those projects not only have support from the People, but they reflect the prosperity of our state.
How else is the work to be done unless you build and manage relationships with those that you work with? Managing relationships allows legislators to gain perspective in how they craft the policies, programs, and projects that are supposed to serve the whole state?
Compromise is necessary at times, so long as the compromise still furthers the intent of the policy. However, there are times when all compromise has been exhausted and the policies are not allowed to function to achieve their goal. Healthcare policy is a prime example if this, where compromises made either don't help solve the issue or make the issues worse.
There are some policy areas where compromise at this point is unconscionable and immoral, such as Civil and Human Rights policies. We should never be compromising in recognizing that everyone should have equal and equitable rights or recognizing every human being as human beings and preserving and protecting their rights.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Comegys submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on July 2, 2022.
2020
Scott Comegys completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Comegys' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
I have lived in Western and Central New York my entire life, growing up and living in Rochester, NY and then finding a home and farm to raise a family in Palmyra, NY, where I raise alpacas.
Prior to establishing the farm, I managed a variety of operations from retail, movie theatres, and construction to managing facilities for Strong Memorial Hospital.
I also re-entered school at Monroe Community College and earned my degree in Sustainability Studies in 2016. Both working at the farm and working for my degree gave me insight into the challenges our society is facing, and inspired me to come forward to help overcome those challenges.
I focus on bringing different perspectives to find practical solutions to issues and bring teams together to enact those solutions. I recognize that the New York State Assembly is lacking a positive perspective from rural Central New York and the Finger Lakes. In order to overcome the challenges of healthcare, education, and growing a 21st century economy I am resolved to be a more effective voice representing the Finger Lakes and serve in the NYS Assembly for progress, prosperity, and unity for the state.
Education- Fully funding the state obligations and reforming the system to better serve students
Creating a 21st economy that both advances new technology and works in balance and harmony with our environment
Ensuring a just society, paying close attention to environmental and social justice
Campaign and election reform that allows and encourages more people to participate and diversifies our government representatives
There are so many influences that it is hard to point out just one. There are many things that I admire about Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and FDR. I look up to the leadership and dignity of President Barack Obama. The activism of Rachel Carson, Majora Carter, and Winona LaDuke are inspirations.
There isn't one example to model as they all have perspectives and methods that can be blended in order to be more effective.
Elected officials should be honorable, open minded, and accessible to the public they represent. They should, upon attaining the office, understand that their role is to serve all of the people and not just their party or even just their personal agenda. They must be forthright with how they serve and how the work of the legislature serves the people. They must be accountable for their public work, taking both praise and criticism when they are offered in order to better serve the People.
I am a team builder. In the operations that I have managed I have always brought people together to creatively and collaboratively approach how the operation performs, solves problems, and serves those utilizing the service. While I may have a vision for how we meet our goal it is better to have other perspectives involved to refine how that vision may work or hear an entirely different approach that may work better. I recognize the particular talents of individuals involved and encourage their input and work to add to the whole so we may have success.
Create laws and policies that serve the public good, promote those laws and policies to the public and hear commentary from the public, and allocate funds and resources that both serve to enact law and policy and to encourage positive community growth in the district. The priorities for policy and programs should be focused on enabling people to live successfully (as they define success), prosperously, with dignity, respect, security, and ideally, happiness.
The earliest historical event that I have a memory of is the election of Jimmy Carter, but know that I had no idea of the significance of that at the time. I was 5 years old.
The first event that I had an idea of its importance was the hostages being taken by Iran in the late 1970s. I was 8 when they were taken and 10 when they were released.
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.
This is beautifully written prose detailing many different perspectives, often conflicting, of love, hope, and redemption. The depth and strength of each character gives insight to true human experience, the importance of growth and change in that experience, and the importance of the intersection of daily life, art, politics, and the the complex emotions of family.
The Assembly brings in the perspective of smaller communities and is the house that gives voice to the People on a more personal level. The Senate gives voice to larger areas acting more as the voice of the municipalities of the state and acts to confirm appointees by the Governor to non elected positions.
Not necessarily. Sometimes having previous government experience can prevent a legislator from having a mind open to new possibilities. What is necessary for any legislator to succeed is to have an idea of how to solve problems or issues through good critical thinking skills, be open and available to suggestions from all of their constituents, and have the ability to collaborate with others in service to the goal of enabling individuals and communities to truly thrive.
Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in such a way that sustainably enables community growth and prosperity. This means that we must address the budgetary shortfalls equitably, reimagine how we encourage business growth, provide for antipoverty measures for individuals and families such as universal healthcare, a robust public education, improved infrastructure that provides clean water, power, transportation, and communications that meet modern necessity, and resilience measures that meet the challenges of climate disruption.
Coequal partners in government, especially with regards to the budget. Naturally the executive branch requires the ability and power to address immediate situations. This must be tempered by the legislatures that speak more for the sustained policies of the state and with the consideration of the what the People desire.
It is essential to build relationships with fellow legislators. It is through the collaboration with people from around the state, adding everyone's perspectives into the policies created, compromising at times, that leads to the best solutions to work for the entire state. It is our ability to work together that creates our success.
I would be more interested in becoming a member of the leadership after at least 2 terms in the Assembly. At this point in time it's important to focus on the legislative goals and doing the work to deliver the results that the district needs.
My first leap into the political world was with an eye on serving the 24th New York Congressional district in the House of Representatives, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't willing to take up that race again if our representative wasn't effectively serving us. That being said, I believe that I will be more effective in the NYS Assembly as the work that I do there will have a more direct impact for the people of Central New York and the Finger Lakes.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scott Comegys campaign contribution history
Year
Office
Status
Contributions
Expenditures
2024*
New York State Senate District 54
Lost general
$237,396
$0
2022
New York State Assembly District 130
Lost general
$15,236
$0
2020
New York State Assembly District 130
Lost general
$15,066
N/A**
Grand total
$267,698
N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
