Hamilton College students should register to vote in NY-22, with the exception of those who are registered in other districts with competitive House races. It may be unlikely, however, that your district is one of the top 5 most competitive House races in the country.
We have the opportunity to be on a college campus during an extremely contentious national election and although Covid-19 regulations have prevented us from physically organizing in the community, we need to stay engaged and active in our political climate. Our district has a sizable student constituency, consisting of Hamilton College, Colgate University, Utica College, and Binghamton University. All students should have the opportunity to impact the community that they call home for these four formative years, especially when issues pertaining to LGBTQ community protections, climate change, and affordable health care will be drastically impacted. In 2018, Democrat Anthony Brindisi challenged the then-incumbent Republican Claudia Tenney for NY-22’s House seat. This was (one of) the closest races in the country as Brindisi won by just 4,473 votes or a margin of 1.8%. Students who engaged with the community through volunteering, canvassing, and phone banking for the Congressman contributed greatly to a large voting turnout in NY-22 and the largest Democratic House gain since 1974. According to Ballotpedia, this district was one of 105 congressional districts that intersected with Pivot Counties. The 206 Pivot Counties voted for Donald Trump after voting for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. The House is currently Blue and while we may see brutal efforts amongst Republicans to take those seats back on the national level, this dichotomy is present in our very own district.
Tenney is currently running a ruthless campaign against Congressman Brindisi, trying to reclaim the position she lost in 2018. As conveyed through an Instagram thread created by the organization Hamilton Democrats, her endorsements include Donald Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, the NRA, and the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List. Tenney has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from big banks and powerful insurance agencies. Tenney prioritizes the needs of her donors over her constituents. For example, Spectrum gave $10,000 to her campaign; Tenney then voted for a bill that gave Spectrum a $9 billion tax break while Spectrum raised rates for consumers in NY-22 by 40%. She voted to repeal Obamacare, which would have resulted in 38,000 of her constituents losing health care. Not only was she an ineffective legislator, but she also claims that she was “Trump before Trump” and attends “Back the Blue” protests, illustrating what her stance would be in regards to broad police reform.
Divisive and problematic rhetoric aside, not one of Tenney’s bills were signed into law during her time as a Congresswoman and she was unable to deliver on the
Support Procurement of our Nation’s Stainless Steel Act
(SPOONSS), displaying her infectivity as a legislator. Brindisi, on the other hand, re-introduced this legislation, which required the Department of Defense to buy American flatware and silverware, therefore creating new jobs for his constituents. His
Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2019
passed through the House, preserving critical VA housing at travel programs that were set to expire at the end of September, and supporting the 10,834 total veterans in NY-22. The
Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act
sponsored by Brindisi also passed through the House with the goal of preventing veteran suicide. Voting against Trump’s most recent budget plan and measures that would expand gun control while voting in favor of multiple pro-environment bills and Trump’s impeachment, Brindisi has remained committed to promises that he made his constituents.
As students at Hamilton College, we have an academic understanding of government at the local level from our courses and lived experiences during mass protests with collective action to address systemic racism. Hopefully, most of you were navigating these topics over the summer and feel empowered to act, whether that’s within our government or through activism outside of the system. We do, however, know that Claudia Tenney will only perpetuate the ineptitude of Trump’s presidency, and we now have the power to hold our representatives accountable for their actions. The margins in this district are extremely low, Tenney’s campaign has been serving aggressive attacks on the values of our generation, and the Democratic party needs college students to participate in order to maintain the Blue majority in the House. If we have posted on Instagram about social inequity, then we need to put our words into practice by ensuring that Tenney does not get elected this fall. Hamilton students have the opportunity to make a real difference, so let’s register to vote in NY-22 and help keep Brindisi in office!
Sincerely,
Natalie Halpin ’21
Managing Editor
