RHINEBECK – A Democratic candidate has emerged to challenge Republican State Senator Stephen Saland of Poughkeepsie in next year’s election.

Terry Gipson is currently a Rhinebeck Village Board member.

“I can’t sit idly by and wait for someone else to step up to the plate,” Gipson said. “And as a member of the middle class, I can’t put up with more of the same.”

Gipson said he has had “my fill of senators who have been in office for decades and are just not up to or willing to solve the diverse set of real problems that exists for our middle class and working families.”  He said the state needs “strong and sensible policies to safeguard our seniors and protect the future of our children.”

The election for state lawmakers will be in November 2012.