In Dutchess County’s 19th Legislative District — encompassing the Towns of Stanford, Pine Plains, Milan, Red Hook, North East, and the Village of Millerton — the contest between Chris Drago and Tonya Pulver blends politics and family.
Drago, a Democrat first elected in 2023, unseated then-Legislature Chair Gregg Pulver, who now serves as Assistant County Executive. This year, Pulver’s wife, Tonya — a school psychologist and lifelong county resident — is challenging Drago for the same seat.
Since the candidates have expressed sharing similar priorities the race may hinge on questions of governance and independence: Can a county legislator married to one of the county’s top administrators credibly oversee his office? Drago says no. Pulver insists she can — and that her decision to run is hers alone.
Drago grew up in Clinton Corners, graduated from Vassar College, and worked in marketing before returning to the Hudson Valley full-time in 2017. Since taking office, he has tried to redirect county resources toward what he calls “long-neglected needs” in northern Dutchess — mental health, emergency services, and affordable housing.
Shortly after being seated, he convened a working group on mental health and helped secure funding for an expanded mental health center in Rhinebeck. He also pushed to salvage a state housing grant that the county initially declined to apply for. “The county dropped the ball,” he said. “I acted as a connector to the state, and Dutchess ended up getting $6 million for affordable housing.”
On emergency medical services, Drago has been a vocal advocate for additional county resources. “The county’s $2 million for supplemental coverage is a drop in the bucket,” he said. “We’ve known the answer for over 10 years — regionalization — and we need to move faster toward that longer-term goal.”
He also voted against the most recent county budget, saying it failed to adequately fund EMS, mental health, and housing programs. “County government needs oversight, not overlap,” Drago said. “Voters deserve representatives who will ask tough questions.”
Pulver has spent nearly three decades as a school psychologist with the Millbrook Central School District. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Marist College and says her professional life informs her approach to politics. “I listen for a living,” she said. “I’m not a politician — I’m someone who wants to see our communities thrive.”
She describes herself as “a fixer,” recalling how she once brought her therapy dog, Ace, to a county legislative meeting in 2019 to advocate for an animal-abuse registry and a tethering law. “We actually got the Legislature to vote unanimously to pass both bills,” she said. Gregg Pulver was Chairman of the Legislature at the time.
Like Drago, Pulver’s campaign has also focused on affordable housing, mental health, and emergency response. “There’s not a single pediatric psychiatric bed in Dutchess County,” she said. “If I have a kid who’s suicidal, I have to send them to Westchester. That breaks my heart every single time.”
One point of difference between the candidates is their views on EMS response times. “We’re such a vast community, that nine minutes isn’t just — it’s not possible,” Pulver said, referring to the national benchmark for life-threatening calls. “That’s the community we live in… It shouldn’t be exacerbated by no staff or no training, but we have to be realistic.”
“I completely disagree with that,” Drago later told the Herald.
If elected, Pulver would join the legislative body charged with overseeing and counterbalancing the County Executive’s office, where her husband now serves.
Drago calls that an unavoidable conflict. “Voters deserve representatives who will make decisions based on the best interests of Dutchess residents, not appease family connections,” he said.
Pulver rejects that framing outright. “Anyone who knows me knows I don’t do anything that I’m told,” she said. “I am Tonya Pulver, not Gregg’s wife.” She says she’s running simply to give voters a choice. “A lot of people died for our right to vote,” she said. “People should have a choice.”
I have been writing Gregg Pulver for nearly a year about the unsafe roads in NE Milan. I have yet to get a real answer. Pushed off to the county road department. I am not happy. Take my life in my hands to get my mail, can no longer use my garage and have to be extremely careful when taking out my garbage. I walk with a cane but most drivers do not care! Sue Serino also did nothing for our problems with the roads in this Jackson Corners area.