The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Brindisi challenging Tenney
UTICA, N.Y. » Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi is taking on Congresswoman Claudia Tenney in the fight for the 22nd Congressional District.
Brindisi, D-119, officially launched his campaign at a rally at downtown Utica Wednesday, surrounded by more than 100 supporters and his family. A scheduled Binghamton rally was postponed because of an extraordinary session in Albany.
“As a lifelong Utica native, I am proud to officially announce my campaign for Congress,” Brindisi, 38, said. “I believe in public service as a calling—I’ve represented our families in the Assembly and fought for our children on the school board. From Utica to Rome to Binghamton and Cortland, I understand the challenges our communities face and I know we can build a brighter future for our families.”
Brindisi says he’ll be an “independent voice for upstate New York” and believes bipartisanship is “the key to finding solutions” for New York families.
“We need to create private-sector jobs, to invest in our local economy with tax breaks for the working and middle class, and ensure that our local workforce is ready to fill new jobs,” he said. “Wemust invest in education and infrastructure to attract new businesses, while using apprenticeship programs to train those who will rebuild our manufacturing base and pay themliving wages.”
In the Assembly, Brindisi fought to increase educational funding to lower income school districts in the state, bolster apprenticeship programs, increase job training, and bring high
tech manufacturing and economic development to the Mohawk Valley region.
He is also pushing to fix the nation’s health care system and expand access to opioid treatment resources and affordable health insurance.
Brindisi called out Tenney, saying she is “not motivated by doing what’s best for her constituents,” calling her an “unquestioning rubber stamp” on critical issues.
“Rep. Tenney has consistently refused to participate in town halls or to even listen to the scores of constituents who want their voices heard on im- portant issues,” he said. “And not only was Rep. Tenney one of the biggest supporters in Congress for the ill-conceived healthcare plan, but she took a party bus to the White House after the vote to celebrate a cruel plan that raises premiums on families, guts protections for pre-existing conditions and would kick tens of thousands of upstate New Yorkers off their healthcare.”
“Frankly, I am excited that Anthony Brindisi has chosen to run for Congress, because voters will have a very clear choice,” Tenney said. “I have spent years fighting for small business owners, family farms, hardworking families and the neediest among us against the corrupt, rigged systemthat has allowed Al- bany politicians and their cronies to literally steal from upstate New Yorkers while destroying our economy. I continue fighting that rigged system and those policies eachday that I have the honor of representing upstate New York in Congress.
Tenney, in turn, called Brindisi a “rubber stamp for the corruption and failed liberal polities” of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sheldon Silver, Ray Halbritter and New York City liberals.
“In Congress, I will listen and represent all of my constituents, not just the wealthy chosen few, and will fight with passion and with every ounce of energy I have to provide principled and bipartisan service to our families and communities,” Brindisi said.