Candidates present their views at forum
Hopefuls vying for 43rd Senate seat
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. >> Republican Party candidate Daphne Jordan and Democratic candidate Aaron Gladd are vying to win the state Senate seat now held by Sen. Kathy Marchione, R-Halfmoon.
The two squared off last week at a candidate’s forum in Schuylerville staking out clearly opposing views of where the state has been and where it’s going.
The Oct. 15 forum was held in Saratoga Town Hall and sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County.
The 43rd Senate District includes parts of Saratoga and Washington counties, most of Rensselaer County, and all of Columbia County.
Jordan has a law degree, is the legislative director for Marchione, and holds a seat on the Halfmoon Town Board.
Gladd holds undergraduate and graduate degrees, is a recent U.S. Army veteran, and the former deputy director for policy in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s, D-NY, administration.
The quasi-debate may have seemed civil to the uninitiated, but running just below the surface was a strong undercurrent of distrust between the two candidates.
In his opening statement,
Gladd expanded on both, highlighting his personal road out of poverty, his connection to those who need federal assistance, his college education, his military service and how he has worked for both liberal and conservative politicians.
“I’m not your normal politician,” he said. “I fought my state and my nation and now I want to fight for my neighbors. I’ll fight for lower taxes, better jobs, and people’s health rights. I’ll fight for you.”
Jordan took a more traditional track in her opening statement saying she wants to build a better New York, one with more affordability, opportunity, and security for everyone.
“I will support job creators by opposing Gov. Cuomo’s policies seeking million in taxes and job-killing regulations,” she said. “I will cut taxes and government red tape on job creators and end failed policies. I won’t be a rubber stamp for Gov. Cuomo and the New York City Democrats and their radical agenda. I’d be a balance to that and [a] strong voice for upstate.”
In handling a question on the Child Victim’s Act, a bill passed in the Assembly but not in the Senate, Gladd said he would support it saying it was not a left or right issue and it has been stalled due to “the politics of the Senate”.
“It’s another issue that everyone has been extreme about,” he said. “We don’t need to be extreme about protecting children.”
Jordan said she would support it too.
“It’s all about the statute of limitations,” she said. “At the present time, victims can bring criminal or civil suits up to the age of 23. This act tries to extend the limitations. I’d work to pass it.”
It was the last time the two agreed on anything on all night.
In fielding a question on the SAFE Act, Jordan said she does not support it and finds it “profoundly flawed”. She noted that she supports Second Amendment rights and would work to repeal it.
Gladd noted that he hunted for years upstate and when in the Army “the M4 (rifle) was my best friend”. He said he wants to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, wants strong background checks.
“This bill is so political,” he said. “The Republicans have been in charge of the Senate for six years and how many times have they voted to repeal it, none. Why, because they care more for the politics than the guns.”
In replying to Gladd’s statement, Jordan said a bill to repeal wasn’t brought to the floor because the Republicans knew it would not pass the Assembly.
“We need to hold violent criminals responsible for their acts,” she said. “The SAFE Act punished gun owners. If the Democrats take the Senate there are more than 40 gun laws waiting to take away our Second Amendment rights. It’s clear, I’m for law-abiding gun owners and my opponent is not.”
When asked a question on their positions on health care and pre-existing conditions, Jordan said she open to some kind of health care reform that is open to everyone and not too expensive for all. However, she stated that government-run health care was not the answer.
“It would increase our taxes by more than 152 percent, chase doctors away due to low reimbursements, and cause hospitals to be overrun with patients,” she said.
Gladd referred to Jordan’s view as fear mongering and said he wants a plan that leaves no one behind.
“We need to fix a broken system,” he said. “No one is trying to implement a single payer system that’ll get passed tomorrow. We need to sit down and negotiate. People tell me pre-existing conditions are under a cap; that they are losing their homes and savings to pay for a broken health care system.”
The two disagreed again on whether there should be free college tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants.
“I went to college with them, served with them in the military, they were born here, raised here, they pledged to the flag and serve in our military and I’ll fight for those kids,” Gladd said. “Nobody should be left behind in this country. We are a country of hope and opportunity for all people.”
Jordan opposed the idea noted that she is still paying for her son’s education and can’t afford to be put children of illegal immigrants through college.
“People in the 43rd district are middle America,” she said. “I don’t think they have the wherewithal to pay for that as well.”
On the issue of allowing those convicted of sexual crimes to vote in elections and enter schools to cast their votes, Gladd said he would oppose Gov. Cuomo’s position.
Jordan used the question to state that she views Cuomo’s position as pandering to 24,000 felons so they can vote.
“That’s pandering at its finest,” she said. “This is putting the fox in the hen house.”
Throughout the evening Gladd kept making the point that though he carries ballot lines from the Democrats, Working Families and Women’s Equality lines he represents the middle of the voting electorate in upstate.
“I’m a bi-partisan upstate fighter,” he said in his closing statement. “I’m not running with fear mongering. We’ll make sure everyone has health care; we’ll protect women’s health rights, lookout for workers and their families, and stand up for our teachers. I’ll fight for these things regardless of party and politics.”
In her closing statement Jordan, who has ballot lines from the Republican, Conservative, Independent and Reform parties, said Gladd stands for radical politics and a radical health care.
“We have two separate ideologies,” she said. “I’m not into the socialistic-liberal ideology that my opponent professions to want,” she said. “He is not as independent as he would have you think. I’d be a check on the New York City Democrats, a fighter for upstate, and you.”