The new 19th
After the fall elections we, Schoharie Co., will no longer be part of the NY 21st, represented by Democrat Paul Tonko. We are being moved to Republican Chris Gibson’s 20th , but being renamed the 19th, because of the dissolution of Maurice Hinchey's district. The new 19th is actually less gerrymandered. It comprises the Catskills and mid-Hudson region. See map. Gibson is shifting south and loosing his Saratoga county territory. Gibson’s district is shifting from Republican-leaning to a swing district.
What does it mean for us? There will be an election in November. Chris Gibson will be the Republican incumbent and he has two challengers that will be narrowed to one in June’s Democratic Primary. Democratic candidate Julian Schreibman is a former federal prosecutor and CIA counsel who tried narcotics traffickers, white-collar criminals and terrorists. Schreibman received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for assisting in the prosecution of four al Qaeda members for bombing U.S. embassies in Africa. As of April 10, 2012, Schreibman had been endorsed by Dutchess, Columbia, Greene and Ulster County Democratic Committees, and the NY State Working Families Party. Joel Tyner, a member of the Dutchess County legislature, will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Gibson. (Wikipedia) After hearing each of them speak, I like Tyner better, but I think Schreibman will be a better candidate.
On June 5th NYSUT announced it’s Congressional Endorsements for 2012. They have endorsed Chris Gibson for the 19th and Paul Tonko for the 20th. Chris Gibson is the only Republican on the list. At this point I do not know the voting records for the candidates. I’ll see what I can find. Terry