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May 3rd, 2023 Political Note #557 Sarah Klee Hood New York 22
2024 General Election
Sarah Klee Hood has established herself early as the Democratic candidate in this Syracuse-based district, as the candidate who will oust incumbent Brandon Williams. He is #6 on Len’s List of vulnerable Republicans.
Sarah Klee Hood ran in 2022 and was a surprisingly close second in the primary to the much better funded retired Naval Officer Francis Conole. She lost by 967 votes. He was the pick of the then mysterious entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried. Unsurprisingly, Conole has announced he will not be running in 2024.
Brandon Williams is another Navy guy in Central New York. He served on submarines in the Pacific. Born in Dallas, he attended college at Pepperdine in California and got his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. His connection with New York is an agribusiness/tourist creation in the Finger Lakes and a bee farm in Skaneateles. His principal non-political post-Navy project is a California software business devoted to reducing emissions through the use of artificial intelligence. He described this business in his 2022 campaign literature as being at an “inflection point.”
Williams won his primary and his election while getting outspent. In total, he spent $1.6 million. Conole spent a total of $3 million on his campaign. Outsiders spent more – especially focusing on negatives for both candidates. Without getting national attention, NY 22 was a big money campaign. 2024 could be bigger.
It is not clear that Williams has made a dent in Congress. He ran emphasizing that he was not a politician and he probably is not. He does not report belonging to any of the Congressional groups or caucuses. Of the three committees to which he was assigned, only Science, Space, and Technology appears to connect to his interests. At the beginning of May, the media page of his Congressional website contains only one item – a press release from February 16 about train derailment disasters.
“This week, multiple train derailments have caused significant concerns and evacuations across the country. We will continue monitoring the situation. As a member of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, this falls under our jurisdiction. You can count on me and my colleagues to demand accountability and swift action from the Department of Transportation to investigate the cause of these accidents. My wife Stephanie and I are praying for everyone affected.”
Sarah Klee Hood does not bring money to her campaign. She brings her connection to the district. Unlike the current incumbent, whose ties to the district are fragile, she is a genuine local. She grew up, she recalls, camping on Lake Delta (a reservoir that locals call a lake). She joined the Air Force after graduating from high school and got her BA and her commission through an Air Force program — Arizona State University’s ROTC. Her MBA is local — from Syracuse University. In the Air Force, she was a Captain and served as an airfield operations officer. In civilian life, she has been a program manager for Saab Sensis consulting for this East Syracuse air traffic technology company. Recently, she has been directing a technology focused non-profit.
Sarah Klee Hood comes to the campaign with a personal orientation and briefcases filled with proposals, some of which were developed for her 2022 campaign. She sees herself as the blue collar candidate who overcame obstacles and pulled herself up by her bootstraps. She starts with a focus on women, healthcare, and childcare. “No family should go bankrupt because of health care costs” is a mantra. She is particularly outspoken on the issue of abortion. “It would be a real shame if we move backwards in terms of where our rights are…” She. promises to work to ensure that no woman can be forced to have a child against her will. If she could, Sarah Klee Hood would create a single payer health care system to eliminate the tie between work and health insurance, the tie between fees and services. She acknowledges that until we reach nirvana, there are reasonable alternatives to a single payer system that include expanding eligibility to Medicare and Medicaid.
Sarah Klee Hood believes most child care proposals misunderstand what parents need. Parents may work 8 hours, but they need a longer day of childcare. She proposes a standard of a 10-hour child care day that takes into account parental commutes. And she knows how to pay for it. “I am proposing a child care opportunity that is based [on] income, not a standard rate schedule. I would love to see that rate below 15% of someone’s income. It will be graduated, the more you make, the more you pay up to a certain cap.”
Sarah Klee Hood says that Covid and other recent phenomena exposed gaps in our system. When schools were closed, so was a system of feeding low-income children. Our lack of affordable housing is an important factor in the growth of homelessness. She has a plan for that. She would reimagine how we organize housing so that tenants have a greater voice in the operation of the buildings they live in and have increased protections and legal support against eviction.
As our weather has become increasingly dangerous, Americans have begun to face the dangers of climate change. Sarah Klee Hood intends to be a part of the solution, weighing in for relying on various green technologies to replace fossil fuels. She also argues that the enormous gaps between the wealthiest and the poorest are becoming more visible and more problematic. She looks to labor unions to address some of that gap while she worries about Republican attacks on social security that could return seniors to the kind of poverty that existed before social security was introduced.
Sarah Klee Hood believes her views are particularly attractive to this 88% white, blue collar, Democratic leaning district with a moderate median income of $64,100. If the district lines of NY 22 were what they are today, Hillary Clinton would have carried the district by 2 points; Joe Biden would have carried the district by more than 7 points.
Consistent with her conviction that restoring trust in public officials is crucial to the American polity, Sara Klee Hood is trying to rely as much as possible on local supporters. She would love it if 95% of her donors were local. She does not want your financial support unless she can trace your money back to you as an individual. She does not want corporate support or PACs. She needs your help, though, even if you are not local. Whether you are in her district or not, donate generously. Make sure you do that under your name so she can look you up. New York’s 22nd Congressional District can be represented by a Democrat if you help.
Vulnerable Democratic Incumbents in the Northeast
Incumbent Jahana Hayes Connecticut 05, a former national teacher of the year, is in her third term in Congress and is #3 on Len’s List of vulnerable Democratic incumbents. See Len’s Political Note #543
Incumbent Pat Ryan New York 18, a former county executive, is in his first term in Congress and is #5 on Len’s List of vulnerable Democratic incumbents. See Len’s Political Note #545
Incumbent Susan Wild Pennsylvania 07, an attorney highly regarded for her integrity as a result of the investigation of corruption in Allentown, is in her third term and is #6 on Len’s List of vulnerable Democratic incumbents. See Len’s Political Notes #546
Incumbent Matt Cartwright Pennsylvania 08 is in his fifth term in a Republican leaning district and is #7 on Len’s List of vulnerable Democratic incumbents. See Len’s Political Note #547
Vulnerable Republican Incumbents in the Northeast
Republican Michael Lawler of NY 17 is #4 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republican House Members. School Board Member Liz Whitmer Gereghty, sister of the governor of Michigan, has announced and former Congressman Mondaire Jones may return to the district and run.
Republican Marc Molinaro of NY 19 is #9 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republican House Members. At least three Democrats have announced or will announce for this seat. These include the 2022 candidate Josh Riley, an Al Franken protégé, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, whose father represented Central New York in Congress for 20 years, and Insurance Manager Don Butterman.
