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Another young, impressive Democratic candidate for Congress –
……Antonio Delgado https://www.delgadoforcongress.com/ is the Democratic nominee to represent NY 19 in Congress. Hismother is a secretary in the New York State Civil Service office. His stepfather is a senior civil servant, a deputy commissioner for the state of New York. His wife’s mother owns a liquor store. His wife’s father is a CPA.
……Antonio Delgado went to high school in nearby Schenectady. He was a good student and played basketball. His first love was basketball. He went to Colgate University, Upstate. He was a good student and played basketball.
……Antonio Delgado played basketball well enough to be inducted into the Upstate New York Basketball Hall of Fame. He was enough of a good student at Colgate to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. He went to Oxford to get a Master’s Degree. He went to Harvard to get a law degree. ……Is off-beat OK? After Harvard Law School, he spent five years in Los Angeles creating a hip hop record label and recording rap that was committed to social justice. Kids, social justice, and hip hop were priorities in that order.
……Is conventional OK? After Lon Angeles, Delgado joined Akin Gump — one of the great law firms in the country. He worked in Dallas and then in the New York office. He lived in New Jersey, moved to Rhinebeck, NY. That village was in NY 19 — not far from Woodstock where his wife grew up — also in NY 19.
……About his wife. Lacey Schwartz. They met at Harvard Law School. When they married, she was managing director of Truth Aid, creating films and conducting educational outreach about social issues. She was also then and still is, seven years and twin boys later, Director of Outreach for Be’cholLashon, an organization devoted to the recognition and support of diversity among Jews. ……It is possible that Antonio Delgado moved to Rhinebeck so that he could be in NY 19 and run for Congress. The incumbent, John Faso, criticizes him for that.
……Faso was from Queens. He went to a state college upstate and then went to Georgetown Law School. He stayed in Washington, worked in Republican politics, and, according to Wikipedia, moved to upstate New York to run for an open State Assembly seat. Pot meet kettle.……Though there were few differences among the candidates, the Democratic primary was focused on issues. Two out of the seven candidates did not make Medicare for All a part of their campaign platform. Antonio Delgado was one of the two.
……This was a busy primary. There were a lot of Democrats who wanted to run against one term incumbent John Faso. Obama had carried the district twice. Trump carried the district in 2016 while Faso was beating Zephyr Teachout.
……Money was a factor. Antonio Delgado raised the most money. He had $1.2 million on hand on January 1. Two other Democrats had almost a million dollars. Each of the three had more than Faso.
……The primary was as close as it was expensive. Antonio Delgado received 22% of the vote. He was followed by candidates who received 18%, 17%, 14%, 13%, and 11% respectively.
……Antonio Delgadois ready for the general election. His campaign themes have been and still are:
- Encourage banks to invest in growth industries like green energy and technology in the region in addition to local farming
- Invest in education, K-12 and beyond with a focus on trade schools.
- Invest in infrastructure.
- Preserve the Hudson Valley and the Catskills for recreational use
- Support guaranteed affordable health care for everyone
- Support women’s access to health care and their authority to make their own health care decisions
- Tax policy that puts working families first.
- Treat immigrants with respect and dignity
- Treat drug addiction rather than criminalize it.
- Preserve democracy by addressing Citizens United, gerrymandering, and voter restrictions.
- Uncover the truth about Russian interference in our elections.
- Permit the Center for Disease control to do research on the effects of guns and achieve greater control over who can buy guns.
Antonio Delgado particularly attacks John Faso for his effort to take away health care from millions of people, for his support of the tax law that helps the wealthy, for his opposition to Planned Parenthood, and his unwillingness to consider proposals for gun safety.
……Faso has not been a great campaigner. One newspaper called him “No Show Faso.” He has been a frequent candidate. Faso failed in runs for governor, for state comptroller, and, initially, for Congress. Faso gets credit for persistence, but that may not keep him in Congress for a second term.
……Will Antonio Delgado‘s race and ethnicity be a problem for his candidacy? He is Hispanic, endorsed by the Latino Victory Fund. And he’s black. Newspapers rarely mention it. His primary opponents didn’t mention it. Faso doesn’t mention it. He does attack Antonio Delgado’s rap music. The people of NY 19 know. Antonio Delgadoputs his photograph front and center in his website. He knows that they know.
…If Antonio Delgado wins in this overwhelmingly white district, he will be unusual in Congress, but not unique. Five districts with fewer than 20% African-Americans have African American representatives. One of those, in Utah, has fewer than 2% African Americans and is represented by a Republican.
……Pundits see NY 19 as a Tilt Republican seat. Antonio Delgado https://www.delgadoforcongress.com/is a distinctive and effective candidate. Help him tip the odds in his favor. This has already been an expensive campaign. It will not get cheaper. Add to his coffers. Make sure that he can be competitive. Delgado can be part of the wave that makes Congress Democratic.
A special election coming up on August 7. Pay attention to it. Franklin County (Columbus, Ohio) Recorder Danny O’Connor https://dannyoconnorforcongress.com /is running in a special election for the open 12th Congressional seat. The most recent poll shows him behind by two points. He has come up with a distinctive appeal for the resources he needs to close out this race and get to 50% plus 1. He suggests that a Democratic victory would make Democratic defections in the battle over confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court less likely. Whether that reasoning is persuasive or not, O’Connor’s race is very close. Money sent directly to his campaign can make a difference in getting out the vote and other late efforts. Consider providing some support.…
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