Steuben County Republican Chairman Joe Sempolinski on Thursday formally announced his plans to run for the 23rd congressional district in New York as uncertainty swirls around the future of the district. 

The seat is being vacated this year by Republican Rep. Tom Reed, a moderate lawmaker who declined to run for re-election earlier this year after allegations of sexual harassment. 

Sempolinski vowed to "stand up to the far left" if elected to Congress -- and to push for representation of his area of the state in Congress. 

“They try to destroy anyone who doesn’t agree with their radical and dangerous agenda," he said. "Whether it is attacks on Donald Trump, other conservative politicians, or just average people trying to live their lives – the need for the far left to cancel and destroy is insatiable. We need to move forward."

The pending redistricting could upend the boundaries of the district, and as the state is set to lose one seat in the House of Representatives, the future of the district itself is in doubt. 

Sempolinski in a statement vowed to fight for the seat's existence, which represents a largely rural swath of New York along the Southern Tier and the state's border with Pennsylvania. 

"The rural areas of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes have always had a member of the House to represent them. I will not sit back and wait to see if the Albany machine takes our voice away," he said. "The fight must begin now.”