Peo drops out of race for Assembly 

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Rochester City Councilmember Jose Peo has dropped his bid for a state Assembly seat.

Peo announced Wednesday during his “Politically Correcting” podcast that he had pulled out of the race in order to stay on City Council. His announcement came a day before designating petitions for the 2022 election season were due.

“My job is unfinished,” Peo said. “I have too many things going on on City Council that are rolling in that I do not trust City Council to put somebody else in this position.”

RELATED: Councilmember Jose Peo announces bid for Assembly

Peo was elected to represent the city’s northwest district in 2019 and in February announced he would challenge Assemblymember Sarah Clark for the 136th District seat. In unveiling his candidacy, Peo billed himself as a “modern, JFK-style Democrat” who he said better represented the beliefs and priorities of the district than Clark.

“While Jose respects the work done by Assemblymember Clark, he is concerned she does not truly represent the current beliefs of the constituents,” his campaign announcement read. “We need someone who shares our ideas and values to make true progress for our district.”

Clark, who was originally elected to the Assembly in 2020, is expected to be challenged by Orlando Rivera in the November general election. Rivera is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines.

Peo will be up for reelection to City Council in 2023.

Gino Fanelli is a CITY staff writer. He can be reached at (585) 775-9692 or [email protected].