Last night, attending the general meeting of my local Democratic organization, I had the opportunity to hear from a group of the candidates who were running to occupy retiring legend Nita Lowery’s seat in #NYS #CD17. I’m including photos and my quick shot opinions of each, and — even though we know the outcome of the endorsement vote (Congrats David Buchwald !!)- the ongoing conversation around the current issues is critical.
Once again, the following are *OPINIONS*
Evelyn Farkas — leaned heavily on her foreign policy experience and growing up up-county of modest means. While her expertise in Ukraine and Russia (particularly applicable now during #Ukrainegate and #Russiagate) are impressive, there needs to be more about domestic policy.
Allison Fine — very polished speaker, which is what you would expect from someone who was the Chair of a national advocacy organization. She spoke at length regarding her previous history with #NARAL and in the #tech sector which is also becoming a bigger hot button topic than it already is. I wanted to hear more specifics about her plan to deal with election security from a technical standpoint.
Asha Castlebury-Hernandez — #combat vet, educator, #MiddleEast expert. My impression from years of public speaking was that — perhaps because of the environment or schedule, or some other factors — thoughts and statements didn’t flow as well as they might have. I’m still perplexed by this. The majority of the discourse was using touchstones (Nita’s legacy, school debt, conflicts) and I was hoping for more defined policy expressions. [Note: I could not track down her campaign page. However: ]
— REMEMBER THESE ARE OPINIONS —
Mondaire Jones — did not appear in person due to a conflict in scheduling. However, his field director did appear, and — being as gracious as possible — did not leave a positive impression. The field director mentioned he had only been on the campaign for four days, and had only a cursory grasp of the candidate’s position on a limited number of issues. However, he did invite us to text/call him next week in order to dive deeper into the. substance of the campaign.
State Senator David Carlucci — Senator Carlucci is the representative for a district that is very akin to the Congressional District for which everyone is engaging. The point was brought up regarding his time in the #IDC and he answered this by saying solutions require working across the aisle (this is an abbreviation of the commentary.) This is something that still generates a lot of emotion and brings up the question of how that might look at the Federal level.
David Buchwald — The Winner!!!
Ahem.
But seriously, the NY Safe Act, the recent legislation to get access to the President’s taxes, active work (in conjunction with other legislators) to bring funding from the state to repair I-684, and so much else… David Buchwald has been working hard in the District for residents, and the State of New York. He’s already received a large number of local endorsements and WPDCC voted to endorse him overwhelmingly.
The race will continue through to a New York State primary which will undoubtedly be hotly contested. For the moment, the race seems to be gaining speed.
