Statewide campaigns in New York have been one-sided affairs for the last 24 years — since then-Gov. George Pataki beat H. Carl Mcall and Tom Golisano to win a third term.

Since then, Democrats have shut out Republican challengers in the Empire State.

Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican candidate taking on Attorney General Letitia James, a Democratic incumbent, isn’t intimidated by that record and she believes she has the policy formula to not only win but to turn around intractable problems like crime, homelessness and drug addiction.

The candidate recently visited the newsroom of lohud.com and The Journal News to discuss her campaign and her ambitious policy goals.

“I want to make New York safer. I live in New York, I have four children here and what’s important to me is that we can walk around our communities, we can take the subways and feel safe,” Komatireddy told me.

Komatireddy say AG James and NYDAs are soft on crime

Komatireddy claims crime has increased 26% during AG James’ tenure. As an example, she noted that a 63-year-old man was pushed onto subway tracks this month — the thirteenth such attack this year.

“A 63-year-old man was pushed onto the subway tracks in Queens by a man who skipped the fare,” Komatireddy said in a statement. “That’s 13. Thirteen New Yorkers have been pushed onto the subway tracks this year. And it’s because our Attorney General and the district attorneys in the five boroughs fail to enforce the laws.”

Komatireddy advocates a “broken windows” strategy as was employed by NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton in the 1990s. She believes that enforcing quality-of-life crimes that may seem minor sends the message that no crime will go unpunished.

“The fact is New York since 2019 has been less safe than New York before 2019 and that is because of Letitia James’ decision to basically take her foot off the gas when it comes to crime,” Komatireddy said.

AG’s office has the resources to combat homelessness, addiction

Another key plank in Komatireddy’s platform is eliminating homelessness. She lamented the 20 freezing deaths of homeless New Yorkers during last winter’s bitter cold.

She says the resources to help vulnerable New Yorkers exist, but they are not being managed.

“Every homeless shelter in New York state is run by a non-profit, and every non-profit must register with the Attorney General’s office. It’s called the charities bureau. On day one as Attorney General, I would audit and investigate every homeless shelter non-profit in the state,” Komatireddy said. “I would look at which ones are safe, which ones are effective, which ones are actually getting people the job training, the treatment, the help they need to go into stable housing and which ones are just taking someone in one night, kicking them out the next day and calling that a success.”

She said taxpayers are footing the bill for the cost of the homeless crisis.

“These non-profits are funded by tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money, and we need to make sure that money is being spent on services and organizations that are actually helping people,” Komatireddy said.

Time to take politics out of the justice system

I asked the candidate how she felt about both Democrats’ and Republicans’ claims that the judicial system is being weaponized for political gain. Specifically, that the current AG made a campaign promise to go after President Donald Trump during her campaign.

“I have a very clear record as a federal prosecutor for 12 years; I never prosecuted anyone because of their political beliefs or their political associations,” Komatireddy said. “What Letitia James did, an overtly political targeting of someone just because she didn’t like him, is wrong.

“The reality is criminals don’t check your politics before they decide to attack you, and Attorney General’s shouldn’t check your politics before she decides to protect you.”

As a first generation American who grew up in Brooklyn, Komatireddy projects a toughness that certainly would have been necessary when she was prosecuting Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Mexican drug cartels as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York.

She served as chief of staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which she says uniquely qualifies her to manage the resources and personnel of the AG’s office.

In a New York Post article on May 29, Komatireddy accused Attorney general Letitia James of misusing $20 million to hire outside lawyers to do AG’s office work.

A Harvard and Harvard Law graduate, she is now a Partner at Holtzman Vogel and teaches at Columbia Law School.

Beating a popular and well-funded attorney general in a high turnout, midterm election year is going to be an uphill climb but Komatireddy is determined to make sure if Letitia James is going to win, she’ll have to work hard to do it.

Check back for more of lohud’s ongoing campaign coverage including an interview with Attorney General Letitia James.

Matt Richter, a veteran Hudson Valley journalist, is local news and regional opinion manager for lohud.com and The Journal News. He can be reached at mrichter@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Why Saritha Komatireddy wants to topple Leticia James | Opinion

Reporting by Matt Richter, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News

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By Matt Richter, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network