Kim seeks nod to challenge Stefanik
Democratic candidates forum Thursday
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Spa City attorney and former City Council member Ron Kim has joined a growing list of Democrats seeking their party’s endorsement to challenge U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, RWillsboro, in 2018.
Kim, 58, was public safety commissioner from 2006-10, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2009 when he lost to Republican Scott Johnson.
His primary residence is now on Glen Lake in Queensbury, although he still keeps a home and practices law in Saratoga Springs.
“Elise Stefanik refuses to meet with her constituents about healthcare,” Kim said. “She would not
have a town hall meeting during the run-up to this bill. You can’t govern if you’re not going to meet with your constituents.”
Stefanik, a second-term congresswoman, voted for the Republican healthcare bill that passed in the House this summer. Similar legislation has stalled in the Senate.
Kim is one of six Democrats that have publicly announced plans to challenge Stefanik, and it’s believed more candidates are waiting in the wings.
A candidates forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at SUNY Adirondack’s Scoville Hall, 640 Bay Rd., in Queensbury. Kim said he hopes to take part. The event is organized by Citizens Acting Together for District 21 (CAT21).
The 21st District is the largest one geographically in the eastern U.S. and stretches from Watertown to Stillwater. Saratoga Springs is not included.
Other candidates seeking the Democratic Party endorsement are Dan Boyajian, Katie Wilson, Tedra Cobb, Patrick Nelson and Emily Martz.
Boyajian, an Albany attorney and Cambridge resident, is a former legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Michael E. McMahon, of New York’s 13th Congressional District. He graduated from Colgate University and Cornell Law School, where he clerked in the U.S. Attorney’s office, the New York office of the attorney general, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wilson, of Essex County, is a small business owner and community organizer. She previously managed her family’s business, The Bark Eater Inn, and now runs her own business, The Adirondack Attic in Keene.
Cobb, a former St. Lawrence County legislator, was on the board from 2002-10 and chaired both the Services and Government Review committees. Cobb has considerable experience in health care, as executive director of the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative, a non-profit health coalition. She has also been a board member of Hospice and Palliative Care of the St. Lawrence Valley, Northern Lights Home Healthcare Inc., North Country Children’s Clinic, and the St. Lawrence Valley Renewal House.
Martz previously worked in the financial services industry and was also a college professor at the University of Delaware and Paul Smith’s College. She is now deputy director of the Adirondack North Country Association, an economic development organization that develops local economies across the North Country.
Kim believes his experience as an elected official, the only candidate except Cobb, distinguishes him from others seeking the Democratic Party’s endorsement. He said he hasn’t yet discussed his bid with county chairs in the 21st district, but plans to in the near future.
He is also seeking the Working Families and Independence parties’ endorsement.
A Glens Falls native, he graduated from Glens Falls High School, Colgate University, the University of Chicago and Fordham University’s School of Law. He has been in private practice for 16 years focusing on the representation of consumers, students and employees in consumer and employment rights matters in federal, state and bankruptcy court.
Kim said a successful campaign requires knocking on doors, attending public events and fundraising.
“It’s still early, but that’s why I decided to step out now, to be part of events like the candidates forum,” he said.