Candidates discuss issues at local forum
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Democrats seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, portrayed her as a GOP pawn whose voting record has hurt the North Country, while contributing to a growing disparity between America’s haves and havenots.
Five candidates running in a June 26 primary discussed wide-ranging domestic issues such as healthcare, campaign finance reform and gun violence at Maple Avenue Middle School on Monday, with more than 250 people on hand, a crowd comprised mostly of seniors.
Democrats seeking their party’s nomination are Patrick Nelson of Stillwater, Tedra Cobb of Canton, Emily Martz of Saranac Lake, Dylan Ratigan of Lake Placid and Katie Wilson of Keene.
“We are going to win because we have to. We have no choice,” said Martz, a former Paul Smith’s College instructor and Adirondack North Country Association official.
She gave up the latter position to run for Congress.
“The stakes have never been higher,” said Nelson, a full-time campaign worker for retired U.S. Army Col. Mike Derrick, who challenged Stefanik in 2016. Nelson also worked for 2016 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, of Vermont. “We are sick and tired of a political establishment in Washington, D.C. and a financial establishment on Wall Street that does not work for us,” he said.
Ratigan is a former MSNBC and CNBC news anchor; Cobb is a former St. Lawrence County legislator who worked in healthcare; and Wilson is a single mom and small businesswoman who already has the Working Families party endorsement.
The 21st Congressional District is the largest one geographically east of the Mississippi River, stretching from the Canadian border to central Saratoga County, but excluding the city of Saratoga Springs, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam.
But except for North Country trade with neighboring Quebec, candidates never touched on hot-button international topics such as immigration reform, North Korean nuclear tensions, the Global War on Terror and related veterans’ issues. The are more than 18,000 veterans in Saratoga County alone, and Fort Drum near Watertown is a major contributor to the North Country economy.
In addition, candidates said they’ve never read and weren’t familiar with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s “Better Deal” strategy for regaining control of Congress. Wilson called it a “bad deal.”
Ratigan blasted Democrats’ failure to adopt effective healthcare despite controlling Congress when President Obama was in the White House.
All five candidates repeated concerns about a government controlled by large corporations and special interests that’s lost touch with rank-and-file Americans.
“No one person can save New York 21, but we can drive the conversation,” Wilson said. “I’m running because I know what it’s like to live and work at a certain income level in this district.”
“Elise Stefanik does not live here,” Cobb said. “She does not understand the needs and challenges.”