Delgado: I’d be an independent voice in Congress
19th Congressional District candidate said the country needs a fresh voice
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> In his bid for New York’s 19th Congressional District seat, Democrat Antonio Delgado said the country needs fresh voices with diverse experiences in government rather than representatives who are beholden to special interests and corporate political action committees.
“And I am of the mindset that we keep sending individuals to Congress who are backed by outside interests, corporate PAC money, who are not beholden to the people any longer and not doing the work for the people,” Del- gado said Tuesday during a wideranging interview at the Daily Freeman. “Instead, they use the language of divisiveness and partisanship to distract us from the fact that we are all struggling.
“We need good, thoughtful, responsible government. And now, more than ever, we need fresh voices, fresh faces with diverse experiences.”
Delgado, a Rhinebeck resident, is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John Faso of Kinderhook during the Nov. 6 election. Also challenging Faso are Green Party candidate Steve Greenfield of New Paltz and independent Diane Neal of Hurley.
During the hour-long interview, Delgado spoke about his background growing up in Schenectady and his careers both as a hip-hop artist and then as a commercial litigator for a New York City-based law firm.
He also talked about his desire to connect and engage with residents in the district, as well as his ability to lean into the shared values of people here and to operate with love, compassion, and empathy. Delgado also sought to differentiate himself from Faso.
Delgado said in talking to people across the district, the most important issue that has come up is health care. He said there are different pieces to the puzzle depending on the part of the district people live in, but it includes rural access, the cost of premi- ums and deductibles, Lyme disease, and the opioid crisis.
Delgado said he feels the country has an opportunity to univer-
salize health care in a way that would reduce premiums and deductibles.
“I amfor a public option,” Delgado said. He said that would allow people, no matter their age, to buy into the Medicaid system.
Allowing people to buy into Medicaid would force private insurance to be mindful of the public option and not price gauge, Delgado said. He added that people would be able to keep their private insurance if they want to do so and it would give small businesses the option for their employees to be on a public plan.
Delgado said no tax would be necessary to fund the public option and it would be a “concrete step that we can achieve that can really have an impact on people’s lives in a meaningful way.”
He said the alternative is to have a congressman like Faso who he said voted to roll back guaranteed protections to people with preexisting medical conditions and to make health care more expensive for seniors.
On other topics, Delgado said the Republican tax reform bill adopted last year had some good pieces to it, including doubling the standard deduction and offering some breaks to small businesses.
The problem, he said, was all those benefits were not worth what the country had to give up to get them.
“All those things came
with strings attached and they were attached to massive, disproportionately, irresponsible and unfair giveaways to big banks and a powerful few,” Delgado said.
He said the bill added a trillion and a half dollars to the country’s deficit and put the Medicaid and Medicare systems at risk. Delgado said the only way to stop having those disproportionate tradeoffs was to stop electing representatives that are beholden to corporate PACs and spe-
cial interest groups, like big pharma.
He said he has promised not to take any corporate PAC money. Delgado said Faso, on the other hand, has taken nearly $1 million.
Delgado said the country needs to get money out of politics, which is why he is in favor of overturning Citizens United. He said it also needs to be easier for people with limited means to run for office rather than the current system that is essentially “pay to play.” Del-
gado added that more people need to get to the polls during the elections. He said Election Day should be a national holiday and the country should also move toward same- day registration and early voting.
“Thewaywe have to move forward on these types of issues is a way that seeks common ground,” Delgado said. “You can’t always run to the extremes.”
He said most people have an issue with the amount of money in politics and there
are people who want a more equitable system.
Additionally, Delgado said he believes term-limits on elected officials could be helpful, but he also thinks it would need to be considered along with lengthening the terms of congressmen. He said two-years is a short time for an elected official to get work done when they have to then turn around and seek election again.
Delgado also said legislative districts need to be redrawn by an independent
commission so they are more balanced.
Delgado said if he is elected he would go to Washington, D.C. without owing anything to anyone but the people of the district he is representing.
The 19th Congressional District comprises all of Ulster, Greene, Columbia, Sullivan, Delaware, Schoharie and Otsego counties; most of Dutchess County; parts of Rensselaer and Montgomery counties; and a small section of Broome County.