A race redefined

Steve Brew was first elected to Monroe County’s 12th Legislative District in 2015 and has served as the Republican caucus leader since 2019. Brew will not be running for reelection again this year; he has reached his 10-year term limit.

“I’m saddened that I have to call it quits, but it’s just been a joy serving my constituents,” says Brew, who still plans to be an active political member in his town of Riga.

On its face, the upcoming contest to determine his successor, which the former legislator declined to comment on, looks simple. The area has been dominated by Republicans for the past few decades, with very little competition from Democratic candidates.

However, a split among right-wing candidates and changing demographics in the district could make this election harder to predict.

For the past 15 years, the 12th District has covered the southwestern-most portion of Monroe County. Included in its boundaries are the towns of Riga and Wheatland, the villages of Churchville and Scottsville, hamlet of Mumford, and the western portions of Henrietta, including the Rochester Institute of Technology campus. All races, according to Monroe County Board of Elections records, have been handily won by Republican candidates.

“This seat has always been a vital one for our community. Riga, Wheatland, and western Henrietta are unique with their rural, hardworking areas that value faith, freedom, and self-reliance,” says Leslie Schildt, the Republican candidate for District 12. “These are Republican values, and our community deserves a representative who lives and understands that way of life.” 

However, this year, the Republican and Conservative parties each have their own candidates, marking the first time this has ever happened in the district, according to county Board of Elections records.

After seeking the Republican nomination, Schildt’s rival, Deborah Campanella, decided to run on the Conservative and Westside First party lines instead. This has caused some infighting between the two right-wing candidates, perhaps leaving an opening for Nazish Jeffery, who is running on the Democratic line.

Although no Democrat has ever won the area, rising Democratic enrollment could make this year’s race more competitive for the Republican and Conservative candidates. Focusing on issues of transparency, affordability, and economic development, Jeffery says she understands that her candidacy is different than most voters are used to, but emphasizes the importance of working together.

“Yes, I’m a Democrat; yes, this area tends to be very Republican. But there’s so much to be said about being able to talk across the aisle, bringing people into the process, and being inclusive,” says Jeffery. “That aspect of it is apolitical and what I hope to do with my campaign.”

A fight on the right

Schildt lives in the town of Riga with her four-year-old daughter and husband, Derek Harnsberger, a professor of legal studies at St. John Fisher University and former Riga Town Board member.

Besides being a “lifelong farmer,” Schildt is also a trial attorney with degrees from Cornell and Syracuse universities. She has 18 years of experience, including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where she prosecuted war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, Sudan.

She then served nearly eight years in the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office as a senior assistant district attorney, prosecuting cases that included public corruption, child abuse, sex crimes, and homicides. Schildt has also worked as a court attorney in the state Supreme Court.

That close working relationship with law enforcement and the danger Schildt says they face has given her an appreciation for public safety. Strengthening their resources and staff would be a key part of her plan to represent District 12. 

“My opponents have heard stories; I’ve lived them. Fighting crime and standing for law and order is a personal endeavor for me. Our local police are understaffed, underfunded, and stretched thin. Prosecutors face crushing caseloads. That needs to change,” says Schildt. “When elected, I’ll fight for stronger financial, logistical, and moral support for law enforcement across the board.”

The other big issue facing constituents, according to Schildt, is economic challenges. This manifests as a growing tax burden on families in the area. (According to census data, the average household income was $86,520 for the region compared with $74,409 for all of Monroe County.)  Schildt also mentions wasteful spending at the county level, citing the mismanagement of funds by the Community Resource Collaborative as an example.

“At nearly every door I knock on, the No. 1 concern is taxes. Whether in the suburbs of Henrietta or the farmlands of Wheatland and Riga, families tell me they’re worried they won’t be able to afford to stay in their homes. That’s unacceptable. No one should be taxed out of their community,” she says. “My top priority is cutting wasteful spending and putting taxpayers first.

“I firmly believe we need to audit our county finances and expose any misuse of taxpayer funds,” continues Schildt. “As an attorney and former prosecutor, I’ll use my strong investigative background to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse wherever it hides.”

Campanella is a longtime Riga political figure who first moved to the area in 2001, where she raised a family in an 11-acre, historic farmhouse located next to Black Creek. She was elected to the Town Council in 2009 and won reelection three times, while also serving as a member of the Riga Cemetery board and as director of the Monroe County Land Bank.

Campanella says Brew approached her last fall, asking if she was interested in succeeding him as a legislator. 

“I have enjoyed representing the Riga community during the past 16 years, and I saw this role as an opportunity to expand my service to Riga along with the surrounding communities,” she says. “I believe I am uniquely qualified for this role, as I have more than 16 years of municipal experience, including budgeting, planning, zoning, and knowledge of government operations.”

Campanella views public safety, economic conditions, wasteful spending, high taxes, and preserving the character of the district’s communities as key issues. She believes that the county can help with these issues by “reducing costs, managing spending responsibly, enabling innovation in the private sector, and ensuring public safety has the resources needed to effectively protect and serve within our community.”

Campanella originally sought to run as a Republican candidate, announcing her intention last October. At that point, she says Schildt had decided not to run but changed her mind several weeks later.

At the nominating convention in Spring 2025, the three Republican committees of Riga, Wheatland, and West Henrietta awarded Campanella the most votes. However, a ruling from a lawsuit brought by Schildt found that a deciding number of votes came from an ineligible delegate, and the matter was to be settled with a Republican primary. Campanella’s ballot petition signatures for the primary, however, were challenged by Schildt in a lawsuit once again. That ruling vacated Campanella’s signatures, and she did not receive the Republican party designation.

“The voters of our three communities had zero say in who their Republican candidate would be for the General Election. The Republican candidate was installed purely based upon the results of lawfare,” Campanella says.

Campanella is still running on the Conservative party line as well as part of the Westside First, a local party focused on the western part of District 12, which Campanella says was “stripped of their right to choose” their candidate.

“I made a conscious decision to do what was needed to ensure Westside residents would have a say in their representation. I collected more than 500 signatures within a short window to create an independent line on the ballot. Westside First gives voters an alternative, ensuring that westside values are represented,” she adds. “Westside First’s values are simple: faith, family, community, and country.”

Campanella continues to identify herself as a Republican on campaign materials, which Schildt criticizes.

“Unfortunately, (Campanella) continues to campaign in a way that misleads voters about her party affiliation, putting the term ‘Republican’ front and center in her campaign,” Schildt says. “That’s not just wrong, it’s exactly the kind of behavior that erodes confidence in the democratic process. I trust voters see through these political games and will vote for the true Republican candidate who will represent their community with honesty and integrity.”

“As a sitting Republican elected official for the past 16 years, I have a proven track record of conservative fiscal management, focus on public safety, efficient operations, and transparent governance,” Campanella says in response. “I have worked hand-in-hand with our seniors, public safety, and veterans to provide needed services. I intend to take that experience to the County and continue representing my constituents, along with the residents of Wheatland and West Henrietta, in the same manner I have done for the past 16 years with the town.”

The newcomer

Jeffery also has roots in the area. She grew up in Henrietta, graduating from the Rush-Henrietta school district in 2010 and recently returning to the area with her husband and infant child.

She studied the biological sciences at both St. John Fisher and the University of Rochester, later using that experience in her work as a bioeconomy policy manager for the Federation of American Scientists.

Jeffery says working to justify the funding for scientific research during the COVID pandemic opened her eyes to how science and politics “go hand in hand.” An early childhood spent helping her father canvass for the school board and local examples of female science-based representatives ignited a passion for public service.

“Growing up we had Louise Slaughter as our (congressional) representative and I thought she was such an inspiration for little girls like me,” Jeffery says. “She’s a microbiologist, but she’s also in policy and making change while advocating for science, data, and evidence.”

Those factors, along with conversations with local residents, helped convince her to run for the 12th District seat. Based on Jeffery’s conversations with residents, she sees a need for transparency, especially when it comes to explaining the rationale for spending or votes.

“For example, one of the biggest gripes if you go on Facebook when tax season comes around is you see people complaining, ‘Why are taxes the way that they are?’ I think that speaks to the lack of transparency and understanding of how government runs or how government decisions are made,” says Jeffery. “For me, transparency is me explaining my voting decisions so constituents know why I’m voting the way I am.”

Similar to Schildt, Jeffery also believes that affordability and cost-of-living issues are among the top concerns for residents. She sees an opportunity to reignite economic development in the region through science and technology, especially in the fields of clean energy and agriculture.

“We’re producing so much talent in Monroe County in our universities, but it ends up having to leave the county or the state (for careers). That’s a lot of resources put into those folks without being able to retain them,” Jeffery says. “So we need to look at how we can repurpose these old manufacturing buildings, create needed infrastructure, bring energy to the grid without having to raise prices for people.” 

Schildt criticizes Jeffery’s ideas as an overreliance on science. Clean energy efforts and dairy herd limits have damaged farmers in the area, Schildt claims.

“We’ve seen initiatives that take prime farmland out of circulation by forcing high-density housing or solar development,” she says. “These policies may sound good in theory, but they devastate family farms and destroy the fabric of small towns. Someone must stand up to these mandates and fight for local control. I will always defend the right of local residents and towns to make decisions for themselves.

“This race ultimately comes down to a simple question: What kind of leadership do voters want representing them? A Democrat biologist who believes more government “science and studies” will solve our county’s problems?” continues Schildt. “Or a Republican who has spent her career fighting for justice, protecting taxpayers, and restoring common sense to government?”

“The simple fact is people are struggling with affordability,” Jeffery says in response. “We need to create a new workforce, we need to create more jobs.”

GOP stronghold

Republicans have held the 12th Legislative District seat has as far back as the Monroe Board of Election records go. Brew won it with 56 percent of the vote in 2015 versus Democrat Maggie Ridge and again in 2021 with 65 percent against William Wu. He ran unopposed in 2019 and 2023.

Enrollment-wise, however, the district has ever so slightly been taking on a bluer hue.

In Brew’s 2015 race, there were 4,443 Republicans and 3,603 Democrats enrolled. A decade later, there are 4,448 enrolled Republicans compared to 4,479 Democrats. This shift has primarily been driven by voters in the town of Henrietta. From 2015 to 2025, the total number of enrolled Democrats in that region has more than doubled, from 1,127 to 2,467. (In comparison, during that same time span, enrolled Democrats in the town of Riga increased by 129, from 817 to 946. In Wheatland, they increased by 174, from 892 to 1,066.)

This 31-voter advantage for Democrats in the district quickly disappears from the picture if the 296 voters from the Conservative party, which typically is aligned with the Republican party, are included. However, since Schildt and Campanella are running against one another in the general election, this could change.

Mirroring a countywide trend, there has also been a rise in unaffiliated voters in the 12th District. From 2015 to 2025, the number of voters not enrolled in any party increased by 979, from 2,912 to 3,891. (Third-party voters in the 12th District, such as those in the Conservative or Working Families parties, fell by 133 in that same time period, from 988 to 855.)

District 12 does post low turnout totals, Brew notes averaging 33.5 percent across the last four elections for county legislator.

A county-level redistricting effort passed in 2022 added one election district in western Henrietta to the 12th District while also eliminating all Chili election districts from it. However, those changes are not enough to explain the rise in Democratic voters.

Instead, newcomers to the western Henrietta area could be a factor, Jeffery believes. In her conversations with residents, she has found that affordability and the area’s natural resources, both key parts of her platform, have led people to move to Monroe County’s southwest.

“When you look at (West Henrietta), there is such cultural diversity with some amazingly talented people who are coming to this area for the first time. Then when you look into Wheatland and Riga, there’s such entrenched community and cultural practices that can also give back so much to the community,” Jeffery observes. “So marrying those two differences into a single district is hard but it’s doable by respecting the values of each of the communities and providing opportunities to uplift the people there.

“As someone who grew up in this area and knows it very well, I am set up to bridge those differences if elected,” she adds.

Data also support this east-west demographic difference. According to 2023 census data, the Henrietta election districts accounted for 59 percent of the total population and only 8.3 percent of the total square miles in District 12.

People living in that area tended to be younger and more diverse, with a median age of 29.7 and a non-white population of 34.3 percent. In fact, the area has an Asian population of 16.4 percent, much higher than the average for all of Monroe County.

In contrast, the median ages in Riga and Wheatland were 47.9 and 41 years old with a white population of 94 and 92 percent, respectively. Both towns have high proportions of veterans as well: 6.9 percent for Riga and 8.1 percent for Wheatland, compared to 3.8 percent in Henrietta. (The average across all of Monroe County is 5.1 percent)

Jeffery says that constituents across the district are united in their tendency to feel overlooked in the bigger picture. She says the county Legislature is an important place to advocate for the region.

“Having a big city like Rochester within the county has a lot of benefits, but it does overshadow some of the other economic possibilities that we have that we are not investing into. So I want to bring all those different perspectives to the forefront,” she says. “But there’s a lot of alignment, too. Transportation and greater access to services doesn’t just benefit rural communities, they benefit the entire county.”

“I’ve been in politics for a long time and a political leader since the late 1990s, and yeah, we were always in competition with the east side (of the county),” Brew remarks on his experience.

He points to expanding broadband access in Monroe County’s rural areas and supporting public safety as two of his personal greatest achievements. Brew also oversaw a shift from the majority to minority caucus after an alliance with Democrat Sabrina LaMar ended following her unsuccessful reelection bid in 2023. He noted an overall countywide shift toward the Democratic Party and emphasized the importance of maintaining a good working relationship.

“As caucus leader for the last six years, that’s the legacy I hope to leave behind,” says Brew. “I’ve been criticized for it, but I don’t need to throw Adam Bello and his administration under the bus at every turn. That’s counterproductive and results in no upside for a minority caucus.”

All candidates agree that District 12 is a special place with elements they want to protect and preserve.

“We have such beautiful nature here with Oatka Creek and the Genesee River, so many great parks and trails, and agricultural traditions,” says Jeffery.

“I love this community. It’s where I’m raising my daughter and where my family farms the land,” Schildt says. “We chose to make Riga our home because we wanted to raise our family in a rural, faith-centered community built on hard work, service, and mutual support. Here, neighbors truly look out for one another, and that sense of community is what makes this area so special.”

“(When we first moved here,) my family loved the land, barn, and wrap-around porch, and the home became our project for the next 20 years,” Campanella remarks. “We love the small-town atmosphere of Riga, and specifically being part of a farming community with large lots and friendly neighbors.”

Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.

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