2006 New York's 20th congressional district election: Difference between revisions
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== Democrats == |
== Democrats == |
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The only Democrat to file to run against Sweeney is Kirsten Gillibrand, a native of [[Albany, New York| |
The only Democrat to file to run against Sweeney is Kirsten Gillibrand, a native of [[Albany, New York|Albany]], who lives in [[Hudson, New York|Hudson]]. She was facing a primary challenge from three other Democratic candidates (computer engineer Edwin Pell, retired probation officer Douglas Walters, and activist Morris Guller), but all three dropped out of the race prior to the filing deadline, letting Gillibrand run uncontested in the September Democratic primary. |
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During the Clinton Administration, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), [[Andrew Cuomo]]. There she worked on HUD's Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, strengthening Davis-Bacon Act enforcement, and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas. |
During the Clinton Administration, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), [[Andrew Cuomo]]. There she worked on HUD's Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, strengthening Davis-Bacon Act enforcement, and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas. |
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Revision as of 17:29, 15 July 2006
The election to choose a representative for the 20th Congressional District of New York will be held on November 7, 2006. Whoever is chosen will serve from January of 2007 through January of 2009. Incumbent John E. Sweeney of Clifton Park is the nominee for the Republican Party, while Hudson attorney Kirsten Gillibrand is the nominee for the Democratic Party. No other candidates have filed to challenge either of them in their respective party's upcoming primary on September 12, 2006. Gillibrand has also been cross-endorsed by the New York State Working Families Party, while Sweeney has been cross-endorsed by the New York State Conservative Party. However, both Gillibrand and Sweeney are currently competing for the New York State Independence Party nomination (a primary is likely).
Besides Gillibrand and Sweeney, Eric Sundwall of Kinderhook is also running for this position on the Libertarian line, while Morris Guller of Lexington, an enrolled Democrat, is running on the Liberal Party line.
Republicans
Incumbent John Sweeney is running for reelection, although a newspaper reported in March 2006 that "Speculation has mounted over the past week regarding U.S. Rep. John Sweeney’s future. Rumors are flying that the Clifton Park Republican might not seek re-election this fall. Between his health, his son’s guilty plea to assault charges, a serious Democratic challenger, the DOJ pulling his financial filings and the Congressional Winter Challenge uproar [1], Sweeney is under a lot of stress and has been for awhile." [2]
No Republican filed to challenge Sweeney, although there was speculation earlier in 2006 that Alexander Treadwell of Lake Placid, Essex County, a Republican political leader and an ally of Governor George E. Pataki, would do so. State Senator Elizabeth Little of Queensbury, Warren County, had also been mentioned as a possible Republican contender should Sweeney not run.
Democrats
The only Democrat to file to run against Sweeney is Kirsten Gillibrand, a native of Albany, who lives in Hudson. She was facing a primary challenge from three other Democratic candidates (computer engineer Edwin Pell, retired probation officer Douglas Walters, and activist Morris Guller), but all three dropped out of the race prior to the filing deadline, letting Gillibrand run uncontested in the September Democratic primary.
During the Clinton Administration, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo. There she worked on HUD's Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, strengthening Davis-Bacon Act enforcement, and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas.
She is currently a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner, one of the premier law firms in the United States, where she works on a wide range of legal and policy-related issues. She has been the representative in many pro-bono cases, and has represented abused women and their children as well as tenants seeking safe housing after lead paint and unsafe conditions were found in their homes.
Gillibrand is a magna cum laude graduate from Dartmouth College, and receive a law degree at the University of California at Los Angeles Law School. She was as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
She is the Chair of the Women's Leadership Forum Network, and on the Boards of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, and the Commission on Greenway Heritage Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Brennan Center for Justice.
Libertarians
Eric Sundwall is the Libertarian Party endorsed candidate. Mr. Sundwall is a partner and co-founder of Old Kinderhook Integrated, a computer consulting company. His campaign has attracted national attention and is the second largest Libertarian Congressional candidacy in the country (based on FEC filings) behind only Michael Badnarik, the 2004 Libertarian Presidential candidate and now Congressional candidate in Texas.
Liberals
Morris N. Guller, a political activist and retired stockbroaker from Greene County is the endorsed candidate of the New York State Liberal Party and will appear on the Liberal line in the general election this November. Guller is running on a platform promoating wind farms, lowering the voting age to 16, rescinding the articles of impeachment on former President William J. Clinton, and an immediate withdrawl of American forces from Iraq.
Guller is an enrolled Democrat and earlier attempted to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand in the September Democratic primary, though dropped out a day before the filing deadline. In 2004, Guller ran against John Sweeney on the independent Centrist Party line.