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March 8, 2023 Political Note #545 Pat Ryan New York 18
2024 General Election
Just over 40, Pat Ryan was one of the New York Democrats to survive the flabbiness of the state party in 2022. Congressional Democrats reeled from Court imposed redistricting. Governor Kathy Hochul, unfamiliar with the state beyond its northwest corner and elevated as a result of Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, narrowly defeated a Trumpish Republican Congressman from the farthest tip of Long Island. New York redistricting created enough Republican victories to preserve the United State House of Representatives for the Republicans in a mid-term Presidential year when Democrats elsewhere did shockingly well.
Pat Ryan squeaked through, in this district which touches three other states, running on a diagonal northeast from New Jersey and Pennsylvania east of Scranton to Connecticut west of Torrington. A smidge farther north, the district would touch Massachusetts, too. Pat Ryan had five distinctive qualifications that helped him to a victory by 3,952 votes, a 1.5% margin.
- He is a local. Despite the district revisions, both the town he lived in and the city he grew up in were part of District 18. He grew up in Kingston, New York and graduated from Kingston High School. A city of 24,000 people, it is the Ulster County Seat. He lives in Gardiner, a town of 5,600 in southern Ulster County.
- He is a veteran. After completing his degree at West Point, he served in the army as a combat intelligence officer in his two tours in Iraq. In one tour, he was north of Baghdad. In the other, he was in Mosul during the worst of the insurgency. As someone who carried an M-4 Assault Rifle every day, he explains, he knows enough to speak about gun safety.
- He is a businessman. He was out of Iraq and active duty in 2009.
- From 2009-2011, he was Deputy Director of Berico Technologies which created tools for training intelligence operatives
- In 2011, he co-founded Praescient Analytics which trained clients in the use of new technologies
- In 2015, he became Senior Vice President of Dataminr which followed twitter traffic and was criticized by the ACLU for having contracts with law enforcement agencies that wanted to follow activists.
- In 2018, he switched directions and became a senior advisor to New Politics which recruits candidates to run for office.
- He has real experience in local politics
- As the elected Executive for Ulster County, he touts successes in transforming an old IBM plant into a rentable high tech site. He describes other successes including providing direct financial relief to small businesses and individuals, constructing affordable housing, expanding mental health services while avoiding any temptation to raise taxes.
- He was the victor in a County Executive v County Executive special election for Congress in the old New York 19 – defeating Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County Executive. The seat became open when the sitting Congressman was appointed Lt. Governor. For 2022 in the revised districts, they went their separate ways, Molinaro elected to NY 19 and Pat Ryan elected to NY 18.
- He has some academic and international experience as well
- From 2011 to 2013, Pat Ryan got a Master’s Degree in security studies from Georgetown University
- From 2014 to 2019, he was a Team Member for the Council on Foreign Relations,
In Congress, Pat Ryan joined several caucuses. His membership in the New Democratic Coalition puts him in the middle of his Democratic colleagues ideologically. The Coalition is sometimes described as culturally progressive and fiscally moderate. As Vice Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, he takes a lead in a field he knows well. His membership in the Pro Choice Caucus announces a political position. So does, in a way, his membership in the Dads Caucus. His membership in the PFAS Caucus (chemical substances often used in military bases) is a connection with his assignment to the Armed Services Committee, for which he is the Vice-Ranking Member. Pat Ryan is on two subcommittees of the Armed Services Committee – cyber, innovative technologies, and information systems (fields in which he is a professional) and the tactical air and land forces.
Pat Ryan’s other committee is the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He is a member of two subcommittees – Highways and Transit, and Water Resources and Environment. Ninety-five miles north of Manhattan, an hour and a half drive without traffic (unlikely as that may be for either getting in or out of Manhattan), a public transportation trip to Kingston from Manhattan is worse. That trip can be a four or five hour train and bus ride. District 18 is in the west of Hudson watershed area, making the Water Resources and Environment subcommittee equally important to his constituents. If the Republican majority (slim as that may be) of Congress ever focuses on problem solving, Pat Ryan is on committees which deal with matters important to his district and the country.
Pat Ryan has been active quickly. He submitted his first bill of the 118th Congress – The Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act, which would treat active duty and retired military like civilians and allow their health care to be applicable to children up to age 26. Using his platform in Congress, he described the Central Hudson Energy Group’s handling of billing “ borderline criminal” and called for CEO Charles Freni’s resignation. More than 4,300 customers had complained about missing and late bills, receiving bills for the wrong people, inaccurate bills some of which were hugely inflated, receiving multiple bills in a month or no bills for several months. Central’s response was that no customers had been harmed financially. This was a roll out of a new system and all customers were made good within a legal time frame.
Pat Ryan has come to Congress with enough experience to be successful. He has found a place in the Congressional system by which he can make a difference. And he is in touch with the concerns of his constituents. If he can stay in Congress, he will have an impact. Help him do just that. With your early help, he just might win by a lot more than the 3,952 vote margin he won by in 2022.
Wisconsin Elections Scheduled for April 4. Donate to achieve important Democratic wins.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Liberal-leaning County Judge Janet Protasiewicz was the highest vote getter on February 21 in the non-partisan primary for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. She received 46% of the vote. Criticized for indicating how she was likely to vote on issues like women’s reproductive rights and redistricting, the voters appeared to be glad to have the information. Former Supreme Court member Daniel Kelly, who lost his seat in the 2020 election, was the second highest vote getter with 24% of the vote. A conservative activist, Kelly leaves no doubt about just how retrograde he would be on controversial social and cultural issues. Which of these candidates wins is crucial for Wisconsin and, in a way, for the country. This contest has been described as the most important election of 2023.
Currently, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has 3 members whose lean can be identified as relatively progressive, 2 members whose lean can be identified as conservative, and one member who usually votes with the conservatives. A victory for Janet Protasiewicz on April 4 would transform the Wisconsin political landscape. People who spend more money on elections than most of the readers of this newsletter will spend a lot of money on this campaign. Smaller donors count. Support Janet Protasiewicz. For more information about her see Len’s Political Note #528.
Wisconsin State Senate District 08
Environmental attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin was the only serious Democratic candidate in the February 21 primary. The Republicans had a choice of three. They chose State Rep Dan Knodl. In the primary, he defeated a Trump acolyte so extreme and so problematic for House Speaker Robin Vos that Wisconsin Republicans banned her from their caucus. Knodl emphasizes reducing spending, cutting taxes, and public safety. He would be a reliable conservative vote against abortion and on other cultural issues. Wisconsin Republicans have been talking about their ability, with a two-thirds supermajority in each body of the legislature, to impeach and remove any state official. The Republicans in the state House of Representatives are two seats away from gaining a two-thirds supermajority. Jodi Habush Sinykin’s election would flip a Republican seat and prevent the State Senate from having a two-thirds supermajority. See Len’s Political Note #529 for more information about Jodi Habush Sinykin.
