I am a retired school teacher political geek. I am on the Yates County Democratic Committee and the current chair of the Yates Progressives, as well as a Penn Yan Village Trustee. Even though I lean left I enjoy a good political discussion, and want to hear all sides.
This blog is a place to collect and share political news, political opinions and political comments about the New New York 23rd Congressional District. The district was carved out of portions of the old 22nd, 24th, 27th, and 29th Congressional Districts in March, 2012. As of October 29, 2012 the registered voters of the new district were 129,955 Democrats, 157,961 Republicans, and 106,586 “Other & Unaffiliated”. The Republican Party had a 21.55% advantage (According to the New York State Board of Elections from ballotpedia.org.) As of March 1, 2014, the voter information ahs not been updated.
We are a small team of contributors. We try post a new article daily, but that doesn’t always happen. We sometimes re-blog articles that relate to our issues. You are invited to send information to be posted to stewartr@roadrunner.com (please place ‘blog’ in the subject area). You can also comment on a posting, or even another comment. Try to keep the discussion on topic, moving forward and civil–comments maybe removed at the discretion of the administrators. You can also follow us on facebook–search for The New NY 23rd. Let the discussions begin!
Rich Stewart
New NY 23rd 
Interesting blog! Reminds me of the very successful Rottenchester’s Fighting 29th some years ago. Good luck with this! And is it true that Matt Zeller, as he says on his Facebook page, seriously is considering running again?
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And p.s.–Are you sure Mr. Shinagawa carried Corning? If so, that is amazing. Mr. Reed’s hometown and all.
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Steuben Native–You have a good memory and must be somewhat a political geek, too. I used to go to the Fighting 29th a lot during the Eric Massa era. After the last congressional race, I decided try blogging, and I’m enjoying it. You may want to visit our companion facebook page, The New NY 23rd. I put a link to new posting on the fb page, and people comment a lot there. I also have information from other fb sites.
I have heard that Matt Zeller is thinking on running. We’ll have to see if he really is going to announce, and if anyone else decides to run.He does has name recognition. I think it would be better for the Democrats if there was not a primary.
Also, I double checked the Steuben County Board of Elections (http://www.steubencony.org/Files/Documents/boe/2012_general_election_official_statement.pdf)and yes, Mr. Shinagawa defeat Mr. Reed in the City of Corning. I quickly added the votes and Nate received 2376, Tom received 1745. Shinagawa won each of the polling district in the city. Reed took the Town of Corning.
Come back soon–right now we have three ‘Authors’ and others who have added articles. We try to have a new article every day—sometimes we miss a day, but not often.
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Thanks much. I’ll check it out. Agaiin, it’s great you’re doing this!
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Happy to have just found you (from NORBROOK)…veering away from most major blogs (except TPM) due to format/commenting changes and repetitive poorly sourced content. Will be interested to see how this site develops. We often feel lonely here in the 29th (southern tier).
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Welcome aboard. We hope that this blog excedes your standards. I’ve learned the benefits of citing my source—it makes it easier for to return to it later. pystew
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I am looking for any article that delineates Rep. Tom Reed’s position regarding the Trans-pacific Trade Partnership.
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Someone that is chair of a Progressive group does not “lean” left. They are full blown left.
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Bet this never makes it through moderation.
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Steve, New NY 23rd welcomes right-leaning opinion. Please submit an article of your own if you like.
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Hi Steve,
You are not the first to questions my “leans a little left” statement.
I don’t know where you are from, but you must realize that this is Yates County. Yates County is so republican that all of the Legislators are republican or more “right of republican.” We had a democrat on the Legislature once in the past decade, and her motions would not receive a second, there the topic wouldn’t be discussed.
The resolution to Repeal the SAFE Act by-passed the Committee Stage, went right to the Legislature and was passed with no public input. In Tompkins County, with Martha Robertson’s leadership, over 100 speakers gave their opinions on the SAFE Act during four meetings (two regular Legislature Meetings and two Public Safety Meetings.) Although the Legislature finally passed a resolution to support the SAFE Act, Chair Robertson voted against it.
The Chair of the Yates County Republicans started the local Tea Party.
My point is in a county 2/3 republicans, most of the rest can be considered Progressives.
The Yates Progressives are who group that started with President Bush was re-elected, and people wanted to get together to drown their sorrows. We meet monthly at various Wineries in the area and sometimes have a speaker/ program. We have been quite active. Last year our biggest event was a tribute to Pete Seeger. We have had Robert Freeman, from the NYS Committee on Open Government at an Public Event. We have also had Economist David Kay Johnson speak twice, a Time Magazine reporter who had worked in Iraq during the war.
After trying to watch FOX News without going from laughing to crying, I decided that there needed to be a source for local political news from the other point of view. I like to think that we dig a little to give the full story to our readers.
Come back and join us in conversation. Don’t forget our Facebook companion page.
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I believe that you have one thing backwards on this comment. The Chair of the Yates GOP Party was a co-founding member of a local TEA Party in late 2009 / early 2010 before being elected to the Chair position of the Yates County GOP in the fall of 2010.
I am not sure how anybody can have a beef with teh purpose of the TEA Party. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already. The missions statement of most TEA Parties is Constitutionally Limited Government, Fiscally Responsible Government & True Free Market Capitalism.
One benefit I see with the TEA Parties is that they have many members from the Democrat, Republican, Independence, Conservative and “Blanks” parties.
These people get together and talk and listen to each other discussing our state’s and country’s political problems. Some of the members also get involved helping both Democrat and Republican candidates
I do not think we have ever seen such a successful local grassroots organization that reaches across all party lines.
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The Buffalo News (2/19/15) reports, “Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, a member of the Ways and Means Committee that will draft the fast-track bill, as its only supporter in the Western New York congressional delegation.” Fast Track–meaning the Congress, after looking at the documents and NOT being allowed to make copies or take notes, will have an UP or Down vote–with no amendments permitted. Reed has explained that you need to give the negotiators room to negotiate. He forgets to tell us that our negotiators are Wall Street, Industrial leaders who are looking for profits, not US jobs.
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Tom reed in washington post today saying he does not think there is a reason to investigate Russia’s role in last election. I called him today to disagree. Would like to see a call in campaign from yates co; do you have local contacts here?
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Yes, I do. email me at stewartr@roadrunner.com. I’ll try to find the Washington Post article. Thanks.
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Glad to have this blog.
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What a great discovery. Thank you for your fine and necessary blog. The level of ignorance in this area is stunning and long term efforts are needed to bring reality to the thoughts of so many of our fellow citizens
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Hello! I would like to learn more about your blog posts on NY23 Democratic candidates and ways to add more candidates to the list! Who would I contact? Thanks!
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Hello! I would like to learn more about adding to your existing blog posts about Democratic challengers to Tom Reed. Who would I contact? Thanks!
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Hello Campaign Volunteer, The names in the articles about challengers to Tom Reed consist of people who have eother registered with the Federal Election Commission as a candidate, or has announced that they are “considering” being a candidate (the usual first step in the process of becoming a candidate). The “Citizens for a Better Southern Tier” has been organizing Meet The Candidate Forums across the NY23rd. You can find their information from their website and/or Facebook page. If the perspective candidate is a Democrat, he/she needs to start soon. The first step to get on the June 26 Democratic Primary ballot is to get at least 1250 signatures on petition from registered NY23rd Democrats. That process starts March 6 and ends April 11 (please check these dates, they may be off by a day or two). There are two Meet The Candidate Forums that I know oif in January, one in Geneva (OnterionCounty) and one in Sebeca Falls (Sewneca County). The Chautuaqua County Democrats will decide who they are endorsing on Saturday, January 20! If the candidate is a Republican, he/she would also need to get 1250 signatures from registered Republicans during the same time period as the democrats. There will then be a Republican Primary on June 26. If the candidate is an independent, he/she will have a bit more time before their petitioning for the September Primary. They will need more signatures. Good Luck, right now there are eight Democrats, two Independents and one Republican (Tom Reed) who are running for the chance to represent the NY 23rd in Congress.
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Campaign Volunteer Please do not be offended but I feel it is my civic duty to correct your comment.
You are interested in learning about “Democrat” challengers to Tom Reed, not “Democratic” challengers.
The Media, political pundits and Democrat Politicians love to throw “Democratic” around incorrectly in an attempt to allude that they are the only Party that considers itself “Democratic:.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_%28epithet%29
“Democratic” is a process
“Democracy” is a form of Government and a “Democrat” is a member of the Democrat Party.
I myself am a John F. Kennedy Democrat.
Respectfully,
Rynstone
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Untrue. “The Democratic National Committee, or DNC, was created during the Democratic National Convention of 1848. For 167 years, it’s been responsible for governing the Democratic Party and is the oldest continuing party committee in the United States.” (https://www.democrats.org/organization/the-democratic-national-committee). If you follow Rynstone’s link to wikipedia, you’ll see the first line of thearticle is, “Democrat Party is an epithet for the Democratic Party in the United States, used in a disparaging fashion by the party’s opponents.”.
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Rich, A candidate had better get a lot more than 1250 signatures on their petition. If they do not other candidates (or their operatives) will challenge their petition signatures and get some removed as not valid removing them off the ballot for an insufficient number of signatures.
This federal petitioning season looks to be shaping up for a cold snowy fun time that will not be any fun at all!
Nothing like collecting signatures in the cold wind, snow, rain and dark by 6 – 6:30 PM. I will be very impressed if four Democrat candidates actually make it on the primary ballot.
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Rich, you say “patato” I’ll say “potato”.
If it weren’t for double standards Democrats would have no standards! I don’t know who first framed this well used quote.
Here is a recent example;
http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/18952-democrats-if-it-wasn-t-for-double-standards
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Yes, Rynstone, in reality you need to have more than 1250 to survive after opponenets challenege the petitions. We will see how many pof the 8 will survive the petition process. Rep. Reed should hope that all 8 survive. During the 2014 campaign, a Reed supporter, (he also worked for Reed for a while) passed, and filed petitions for the Green Party without those named on the petitons even knowing that it was being done. It’s a good thing the unexpected “candidates” found out before the petitions were approved because one who have lost her job since she worked for the goivernment, and could not run for office. Check out William Hungerford’s article about the fiasco (https://newny23rd.com/2014/05/03/the-gop-green-party-caper/) The GOP have tricky ways of muddying up the campaign process.
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Every political party has double standards. For example the GOP’s wavering philosophy on the Deficit.
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Rich, I have to give you credit where credit is due. T”he GOP has tricky ways of muddying up the campaign process.” I totally agree but believe that stats will prove it is much more prevalent in the Democrat Party. Read Donna Brazile’s latest book “Hacks” to see the mass Democrat Party and Clinton operatives ensure a Trump victory over Hillary. I believe that Sanders would have beaten Clinton.
It is not against election law to petition a person onto a ballot. The Board of Elections always contacts by priority mail any person who is listed as a candidate and makes it onto the ballot. They are given an opportunity to decline this petition.
I could go an petition you on a ballot to run for public office. It is not illegal nor do I legally need your permission.
The thing that is most important is that both the Democrat and Republican Party hacks have build such a corrupt election process that it takes years of experience to figure out all of the trick” that are used to keep incumbents in office.
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