2018 General Election Elected 51 – 49
Gradually, we move from writing about vulnerable Congressional Democratic incumbents to writing about candidates running against vulnerable Congressional Republicans. The goal of these Political Notes is to support Democrats running against Republicans, not Democrats running against each other. In many cases, therefore, we wait until after primaries are over — which means waiting until 2018.
There is only one Democratic candidate or only one viable Democratic candidate in some districts with vulnerable Republicans. This note is about the only Democratic challenger in NY 22 –– AnthonyBrindisihttps://brindisiforcongress.com/ .
The Brookings Brief, the online publication of Brookings, has begun a series on the two rust belts. The authors distinguish between deteriorating, old manufacturing cities and recovering (my term, not theirs) cities — cities that have taken advantage of available resources to recover from the loss of manufacturing. Universities or other distinctive institutions, beautiful rivers or other natural resources have served as opportunities for recovering cities to recreate themselves into prosperous centers. Brookings tells us that the recovering cities still vote Democratic. The cruel, angry, even vengeful promises of Trump and his fellow Republicans have attracted a larger percentage of people in the deteriorated cities. Accoding to Brookings, optimistic local leadership investing in community transformation seems to make a difference for the recovering cities.
Optimistic leaders may be local businessmen or political leaders. They can be legislators. Utica state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, the sole Democratic candidate for the NY 22 Congressional seat, seems to be an optimistic leader. Anthony Brindisiis Chuck Schumer’s candidate. The only other Democratic candidate dropped out. There are no others on the horizon.
Is Anthony Brindisi be the kind of legislator who transforms the communities he represents? He gets high marks from the NRA (reminiscent of Kristin Gillibrand when she represented an upstate district). On the other hand, he is endorsed by the Working Families Party — a group that supports liberal candidates whose votes in their column count for a candidate according to New York election law.
Is Anthony Brindisi the kind of legislator who transforms the communities he represents? As a school board member, he led the effort to rebuild the city schools. As a legislator, he supports development in his community. He worked with a neighboring legislator to obtain funding to sustain a nearby racetrack. He welcomed Uber to Utica as an opportunity for transportation in this small city and rural area.
Supporting a race track and Uber does not distinguish him. What does distinguish him is his commitment to technology. Anthony Brindisi may be the kind of legislator who transforms the communities he represents. Acknowledging bipartisan support, here are the achievements he sees as his most important for Utica, Rome, and the small town of Marcy between them. He touts1. $180 million for the Nano Utica project on the campus of SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy, 2. $585 million for the Marcy Nano project adjacent to the campus, 3. Several million dollars for research and development in cyber-security and unmanned aerial vehicles at the business and technology park in Rome,4. $300 million for construction of a new state-of-the art hospital in downtown Utica. These are projects that promise growth for the area that is self-sustaining. These technology projects can change the character of Utica, Rome and nearby communities. They are projects that can make SUNY Polytechnic Institute into a productive institution attracting innovative technological businesses.
Help Anthony Brindisihttps://brindisiforcongress.com/. Help him bring prosperity to his section of Upstate New York. While you are doing that, help create a Democratic majority in Congress. He has a wealthy incumbent to defeat. Remember, the election is in November 2018. Even a small donation, given monthly, makes an enormous difference.
