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According to a press release, Barber plans to make his official announcement in each county within the senate district. His first stop is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at Dutchmen's Landing on Main Street in Catskill. The 51st Senate District includes all of Greene, Schoharie, Otsego, Herkimer and Cortland counties, as well as part of Tompkins and Chenango counties.
Barber has raised more than $125,000 from over 1,200 contributors in his election bid for the position currently held by state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford. Seward, first elected to the state Senate in 1986, ran unopposed for re-election in 2006.
Seward has not yet announced whether he will seek re-election, his spokesman Duncan Davie said Thursday. He said the senator will make an official announcement in May or June.
"He's focused on working on a budget and serving the people of the district," Davie said of Seward's current priorities. "People come first, politics second."
Barber is a farmer, small business owner and six-term supervisor in Caroline, whose population was 2,910 in 2000. Barber serves on numerous environmental and intermunicipal cooperation projects, chairs the Tompkins County Council of Governments and is secretary to the Board of Governors for New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal. He also serves on the board of directors for both the Community Foundation of Tompkins County and Tompkins County Area Development.
Seward is an Otsego County native. In 1999, he was named chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Insurance and in 2007 became majority whip. He and his wife, Cynthia, live in Milford.
