Former Rep. Marc Molinaro will leave his position within the Trump administration and is rumored to be considering a run for the New York State Assembly.

Molinaro, who currently serves as the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration under President Donald Trump, is expected to vacate his position on Feb. 20, according to an X post from his personal account. Molinaro is rumored to be vacating his position to run for the 102nd New York State Assembly District seat, which encompasses all of Greene and Schoharie Counties, along with parts of Delaware, Albany and Ulster counties.

While Molinaro has not publicly confirmed a plan to run for the state assembly, a source with “direct knowledge of the matter” said he would seek the nomination, according to the Times Union.

“After a record-breaking year working with [Trump and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy], my last day with the administration will be Friday, February 20th,” Molinaro posted on X. “I’m coming home to be closer to my family and get back into the fight. New York is being run into the ground. Stay tuned!”

The source also said that Molinaro wants to refocus his efforts on local public service.

Molinaro did not return Pipe Dream’s requests for comment.

The district seat is currently held by Republican Assemblyman Chris Tague, who will leave the position to run for the 51st state senate district, which is being vacated by Peter Oberacker. Oberacker announced in October that he will run against incumbent Democrat Josh Riley for New York’s 19th congressional district and has since been endorsed by Trump and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The 102nd district includes much of the Northern Catskills, a thinly populated area that is largely rural and agricultural. In the Republican-leaning district, Tague earned 64 percent of the vote to beat Democrat Janet Tweed in 2023.

Democrat Thomas Boomhower, a trustee for the Village of Catskill who will also run for the assembly seat, released a statement on Monday saying that the district “deserves a representative who is rooted in this community and focused on its future, not someone looking for a political landing spot after being rejected by these very voters.”

Molinaro has had an extensive career in New York politics, first being elected as a Tivoli village trustee in 1994 at the age of 18. He was then elected mayor of that municipality the following year, being reelected five times. Molinaro served the 103rd district in the state assembly from 2006 to 2011, when he was elected as Dutchess County Executive, a position he held until 2023. He also ran for governor of New York in 2018, losing to Andrew Cuomo.

In 2022, Molinaro narrowly won the congressional election against Riley and served as representative for the 19th congressional district. As a congressman, he was a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Small Business. In a study from the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School, Molinaro was ranked as the second most bipartisan member of Congress in 2024.

During his term, Molinaro voted in favor of the impeachment inquiry against former President Joe Biden, drawing widespread criticism. He advocated for banning Students for Justice in Palestine at Binghamton University and universities across the country in December 2023. He also amplified claims made by President Trump about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohio, which have since been proven false.

At the same time, Molinaro became the first House Republican to co-sponsor the Access to Family Building Act in 2024, which protects nationwide access to assisted reproductive technologies and has previously opposed Republican efforts to pass federal legislation on abortion. He also voted with Democrats to expel Republican representative George Santos in 2023.

He also advocated in 2024 for Congress to pass a federal farm bill to expand farmers’ insurance, citing the need for such insurance in upstate New York, where specialty crops and dairy farming are prominent.

Molinaro narrowly lost re-election to Riley in 2024. He was then nominated to lead the Federal Transit Administration last April and confirmed in August. In this position, Molinaro opposed New York City’s congestion pricing, but the toll is still in place. After less than a year in this position, Molinaro is now turning his attention to the 102nd district, where he will face Boomhower as an opponent.

“This campaign is about delivering real results and economic security for our communities, and making sure that families can build a life here,” Boomhower said. “That’s the work I’ve been doing my entire career, and it’s the work I’ll continue to do in Albany.”