1Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’m Carl Fitzsimmons, the Democratic nominee for the NYS Assembly in the 130th District, which covers Webster and all of Wayne County. I was born in Sodus and live in Webster. I grew up working on local farms, planting and trimming fruit trees and working muck and sandy loam soil, so I know what our farm families are up against.

I served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne, stationed at Fort Bragg and in Panama. I then built a career in IT, consulting for large organizations, including work through AT&T for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Today I own a business and hold several patents and software innovations.

I serve my community as a Planning Board member, Boy Scout assistant leader, youth sports coach, and Science Olympiad mentor, coach and Regional Judge. I helped the Sodus junior high team reach the state’s top 20.

I’ve been a longtime activist for single-payer health care, women’s rights and social justice. I’m running on solutions that carry no party label: the New York Health Act to cut costs for families, schools and towns; locally owned public energy that keeps our money here; fair prices for family farms; and schools that keep kids close to home. I’ve pledged not to take corporate money, because voters tell me at their doors that money is the #1 problem in politics.

2Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

1. Health care that costs less and covers everyone. The New York Health Act would cover every New Yorker with no premiums, deductibles or networks, and coverage that moves with you from job to job. RAND found it would cost less than our current system over time, assuming the federal waivers are granted. It also cuts what our school districts and towns pay for employee coverage, and every dollar saved comes straight off the property-tax levy. Here in Wayne County, hospitals have closed because the market decided we weren’t profitable enough, and expectant mothers now drive to Rochester or Canandaigua to give birth. I’ll fight to pass the NYHA and to bring nonprofit hospital care back home.
2. Locally owned energy that keeps our money here. I support a distributed energy solution: power owned by our towns, schools, co-ops and municipal utilities like Fairport’s, with NYPA as builder and financier at public rates. I’ll remove the Albany rules that cap what homes, farms and schools can produce, so every roof, barn and parking lot can generate power and the surplus becomes a second income. Instead of subsidies that privatize gains and socialize losses, we’d build locally owned solar, hydro and new wind, add solar canopies over parking lots, and let young families farm between the panel rows. Data centers should pay their own way, so Wayne County families aren’t outbid for their own power.
3. Keep the farm in the family. Our apple and onion growers are the backbone of Wayne County, yet distributors and packers set their prices. Some onion farmers are paid the same today as decades ago, while the big retailers grow richer. I’ll fight for fair prices for what farms sell and fair costs for what farms buy, so the difference stays local. That means Right to Repair for farm equipment, so farmers can fix their own expensive machines; locally owned energy that turns barns and fields into a second income; and the New York Health Act, so a farm family’s health coverage no longer eats the margin. When farms can make a living, young families can stay, and our communities grow stronger.

3What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Health care has been my passion for decades. I’ve worked as an activist for single-payer health care, because no family should go broke or put off care because of the cost. I’m also a longtime advocate for women’s rights and social justice. As a Science Olympiad coach and Regional Judge, I’ve seen what hands-on learning does for kids, and I want that approach in every classroom, not teaching to the test. I want to restore the early childhood programs for ages 3 to 5 that have been cut in half. And I’m passionate about getting money out of politics. Voters tell me at their doors that money is the #1 problem, which is why I won’t take corporate money. Albany should answer to the people who live here, not to big donors.

4Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Lincoln said, “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital.” FDR taught that the test of our progress is whether we “provide enough for those who have too little.” JFK’s call to service led me to enlist in the 82nd Airborne; we do these things “not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” like passing universal health care. Dr. King reminded us that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Einstein warned that “common sense” is often just the prejudices we picked up young, so we must keep questioning it. Jim Brown overcame adversity, then after football built Black-owned businesses and gave young people a second chance. Each put service ahead of self. That’s the example I want to follow.

5What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official works for the people, not for donors or party bosses. That starts with independence: I won’t take corporate money, so my only obligation is to the voters of the 130th. Next is honesty: say what you mean, keep your word, and tell people the truth even when it isn’t popular. Then listening: the best ideas I’ve heard came from neighbors at their doors, farmers in their fields and parents at ballfields. Finally, the discipline to put solutions ahead of party labels. In the 82nd Airborne you learn that the mission comes first and you don’t leave anyone behind. That’s how I’ll serve. Albany should measure success by whether families in Webster and Wayne County pay less and have more opportunity, not by who gets credit.

6What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A member of the Assembly has three core jobs. First, pass laws that make life better and more affordable for the district, and vote on a budget that spends taxpayers’ money wisely. Second, be a strong voice in Albany, making sure Webster and Wayne County get their fair share for schools, roads, broadband, hospitals and farms. Third, serve constituents directly: answer the phone, help people cut through red tape, and show up in every town, not just at election time. I’d add a fourth: hold Albany accountable by reporting openly on how I vote and why. We’re already doing this work, holding town halls on health care and energy across the 130th to hear directly from the people I’ll represent.

7What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to be remembered as part of the generation that started living up to the Constitution’s promise of “a more perfect union,” one with peace and prosperity for all, not just a few. We are all human, and we all need each other. None of us pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Someone taught us, hired us, healed us, served beside us or gave us a chance. I’d like to leave Webster and Wayne County with health care everyone can count on, energy our communities own, family farms that young people can afford to keep, and schools that prepare every child. Most of all, I hope people look back and say that government finally worked for them, because we built it together.

8What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was delivering the Democrat and Chronicle as a paperboy in Scottsville, New York. I had my route for two years. Rain, snow or shine, people counted on that paper being on their porch, and I learned early what it means to show up, be on time and earn people’s trust. Collecting from customers every week also taught me how to talk with my neighbors and handle money responsibly. Knocking on doors is still part of my work today.

9What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

One of my biggest struggles has been understanding why greed, hatred, bigotry and bias so often have more influence on people than respect, love and togetherness. I’ve seen how much good people do when they work side by side: in the Army, on the ballfield, at a Science Olympiad competition, or at a neighbor’s door. Yet fear and division are too often used to pull us apart, and too often they work. I haven’t stopped asking why. What I’ve learned is that the answer isn’t to give up on people. It’s to keep showing up, keep listening and keep proving that we accomplish more together than we ever will apart.

10What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The relationship should be one of balance. The governor and the legislature are partners, but they are also a check on each other. In New York, too much power has shifted to the governor through the budget, where major policy is decided behind closed doors and folded into a take-it-or-leave-it package. The legislature should hold public hearings, debate in the open and pass important policy on its own merits. Voters deserve to know what is happening in Albany. I’ve promised my constituents I will hold regular town halls and report back on what is happening and how I vote. I’m already doing that as a candidate, holding town halls on health care and energy across the 130th.

11What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Health care, energy, water, and AI’s impact on jobs. Health care costs keep rising while rural hospitals and birthing centers close; the New York Health Act would cover everyone and cut costs for families, schools and towns. AI data centers are competing with families for power and water, so they must pay their own way, and locally owned energy keeps our money here. We must protect Lake Ontario and replace aging water systems. AI will also reshape work. New York must make sure its gains are shared, not just taken by a few tech giants, by protecting workers, investing in training through our community colleges and BOCES, and making sure the next generation of good jobs takes root here.

12Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is necessary, but it depends on what is being traded away. Good compromise finds common ground so more people are helped. Bad compromise buys votes by leaving people behind. History shows the cost. To win Southern votes, the 1935 Social Security Act left out farm and domestic workers, shutting out most Black workers in the South for years. After World War II, the GI Bill was left to local officials, and many Black veterans in the South were denied the home loans and education they had earned. I will always work across the aisle to find solutions, but I will not compromise on anyone’s dignity, rights or access to health care. A deal that leaves our neighbors behind is not a solution.

13What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

I’m proud to be endorsed by the New York Progressive Action Network (NYPAN) and the Center for Freethought Equality. The Campaign for New York Health has recognized me with a Candidate Distinction for my support of the New York Health Act, and Moms Demand Action has named me a Gun Sense Champion of Distinction. Wayne County Democratic Committee, Monroe County Democratic Committee, Webster Democratic Committee. NYS-PEF. I’m backed by the volunteers, small donors and neighbors across Webster and Wayne County who knock doors, write postcards and host events. This campaign takes no corporate money, so it answers to the people of the 130th.

14What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. I was very young, but I remember how the grown-ups around me reacted: the shock, the silence, the tears. Even as a child, I understood that something terrible had happened to all of us, not just to one family. Years later, President Kennedy’s call to service led me to enlist in the 82nd Airborne. That day taught me early how much one leader can inspire a country, and how much we lose when that voice is taken.