Tonko, Joy vie for 20th Congressional seat
NEW YORK » New York’s 20th Congressional District encompasses Albany and Schenectady counties and parts of Rensselaer, Montgomery and Saratoga counties. Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat, has been in Congress since 2009.
This election cycle, Liz Joy, a Republican business owner, and realtor, is challenging Tonko for the seat.
Recently, the two candidates discussed their views on issues facing the country with the League of Women Voters.
Each candidate touched on a multitude of topics, including healthcare, climate change, the economy, criminal justice, and security.
“Climate change has been identified as the number one national security threat by the Pentagon, and it is a top priority of mine,” Tonko stated on his most pressing concern.
“I first ran for Congress because our nation had no clear national climate or energy policy. I believe we can work together to score both short and long-term victories to leave the next generation with a sustainable environment,” Tonko added.
Tonko also touched on the need to repair the economy and for criminal justice reform.
“Helping the private sector provide quality jobs and dignity of work will always be a priority, also increasing access to affordable health care, moving forward on John Lewis’ mission to eradicate racial injustice, winning the war on opioids, bringing back scientific integrity in Congress/ White House, fighting the gun lobby in our mission to prevent gun violence in our communities,” Tonko added.
Joy commented on the need to help support businesses attempting to bounce back from the fallout stemming fromtheCOVID-19 pandemic.
“We need to rebound our economy, open businesses, and help people prosper while combating Coronavirus. We can achieve this through continued commonsense safety measures of PPE,” Joy remarked.
Joy also noted the need to support law enforcement amid unrest in the country.
“We must ensure safety, security, law, and order. Our men and women in law enforcement must be fully funded with the education programs they need, body cameras for every officer, and increasing our patrols to two officers in a car as opposed to one. Without law and order, safety and security in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities, our communities will devolve into chaos,” Joy noted.
Joy additionally expressed her views on healthcare, advocating for a mixed private/public approach.
“We must support people’s right to maintain and continue to purchase private health insurance plans while ensuring Americans the right to Government plans if they need it. Every person deserves good, strong, quality healthcare. I support allowing family plans & bringing elderly parents onto those plans. I support allowing people over age 26 to opt into family plans. I support competitive choice,” Joy noted.
Both candidates further expounded upon their views on racial justice in our communities.
“I believe every person, every race, color, and gender has the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. I believe each community is different and we should have grassroots, organic solutions by the people, community groups, and police departments that live andwork there,” Joy stated.
“This will help ensure mutual respect, formstrong working relationships and trust within our neighborhoods, communities and towns,” Joy added.
“We can take a first step by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which works to end racial & religious profiling, saves lives by banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limits military equipment on our streets, requires body cameras, holds police accountable in court, investigates police misconduct, changes the culture of law enforcement with training to build integrity and trust, and improves transparency,” Tonko stated.
Each candidate touched on the issue of securing voting rights.
“I believe the best choice is personally voting at the designated voting place. Secondly, should someone not be able or choose not to vote in person, Absentee Ballot voting is the next best option,” Joy commented.
“Both of these methods are proven over many years and ensure a voter’s voice is heard and counted in the election process. I do not support mail-in voting, which has many loopholes and failures of success to ensure votes are adequately counted. I support Voter ID requirements for all voters,” Joy added.
“The White House should bring back in-person election security briefings by the Director of National Intelligence. Senate Republicans should stop blocking three election security bills House Democrats have passed which require campaigns to report to the FBI and the FEC about foreign offers of assistance, provide election funding and ban voting machines from being connected to the Internet, and more,” Tonko remarked.
“Election security and ensuring that our Democracy is sound should be a shared goal no matter your political stripes, and I find it shocking and distressing there is somuch GOP resistance to this mission. We should also pass H.R. 1, the For The People Act, to get big money out of politics,” Tonko added.
Segueing into the issue of money in politics and campaign finance, each candidate made their policy positions known.
“It is absolutely critical to reduce the role of money in politics. That’s why I have introduced and cosponsored legislation that would overturn Citizens United, one of the most damaging Supreme Court decisions in our nation’s history. I have received an A Rating from democracy reform group End Citizens United,” Tonko noted.
“Finally, we must empower a government of the many, not the money, by having the United States Senate take up and pass H.R. 1, the For The People Act, which would get big money out of politics. Access to elected leaders, or running for office in the first place, should be based on how many zeroes a person has in their bank account, but rather on their ideas, merits, work ethic, and experience,” Tonko concluded.
“Every American citizen has the right to run for public office. There is no doubt that money is an overwhelming factor in National and State races,” Joy explained.
“I do not support Government funding or matching of any State races like Governor Cuomo has recently proposed. It leaves room for fraud and taxpayers should not be forced to pay for candidate races,” Joy concluded.
Voters in New York are able to vote absentee by mail or via early voting. Additionally, Election Day is Nov. 3.