State Sen. James Skoufis is looking to push his profile to the national level.

This week, the Orange County lawmaker announced his intention to run for the chair of the Democratic National Committee.

He said his combination of constantly winning reelection in a pro-Republican district along with being a party outsider makes him the right person for this position at this time.

Skoufis admitted his campaign is a longshot but spent part of the week in Arizona at a DNC event making inroads with party leadership.

"We have to start being real again, normal again and importantly revert back to our working-class roots," he said. "Talk about the economy, the hardships that people are facing and what we're going to do about it."

The current chair, Jaime Harrison, announced he would not seek reelection - opening up the pool to a number of rising members of the party. The election is scheduled for early February 2025.

State Sen. Bill Weber has questions on how one of the most closely watched school districts in New York went from being in a multimillion-dollar deficit to having an even larger surplus in a matter of months.

Weber has called for a full probe into the East Ramapo Central School District and the state Education Department.

Earlier this year, school leadership said it was roughly $20 million short.

Taxpayers did not pass a school budget on the first try, and the second attempt only increased taxes by 1%. This forced state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa to take the unprecedented step of mandating the school board tax on an additional 4.38% tax levy to fund public schools.

Just months after that unfolded, an audit of the schools' finances found a $30 million surplus.

"We want answers, we want to know why we were misled or what happened or why there was no oversight," Weber said.

At that time, East Ramapo CSD interim Superintendent of Schools Anthony DiCarlo said, "Just because we have this $30 million does not mean this is a silver bullet and all the issues have gone away from East Ramapo."

JP O'Hare, a spokesperson for the state Education Department, told News 12 in an updated statement: "Each board of education has a fiduciary duty to its residents, which includes the responsibility to manage its finances. This duty is inalienable; East Ramapo cannot escape responsibility by blaming the state."

NYSED said it called for an audit of the district's finances due to years of fiscal inconsistencies. The state comptroller's office confirms it's reviewing that request.