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Audio Feature: This week in News for Rep. John Faso 20180501
Apr 28, 2018 6:45 am
Here's the week in the news for Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook), the District 19 Congressperson for the WGXC listening area. The Fivethirtyeight.com website currently reports Faso votes with Donald Trump's positions 87.3 percent of the time, the same as last week. Click here to download or play an audio version of this report (10:45).
• This week there was not much voting in Congress, and Faso only released one press release. It boasted that the Congressperson from Kinderhook was "Recognized as One of Most Bipartisan Members in House of Representatives." The Lugar Center Bipartisan Index did rank Faso the 18th most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives for 2017. But for voters locally, the district is now represented by someone less bipartisan than last year. In 2016, Republican Chris Gibson, also from Kinderhook, finished third in the same ranking. In Congress April 24 Faso voted for the resolution, "Recognizing and supporting the efforts of the United Bid Committee to bring the 2026 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup competition to Canada, Mexico, and the United States." Congress did not consider much this week, with Republicans and Democrats mostly agreeing on a few non-controversial bills. • The Mid-Hudson News Network is reporting U.S. Rep. John Faso dismissed his critics and vowed victory for Republican candidates in remarks made at a political fundraiser on April 22. “There is, no doubt, excessive polarization in our country,” the Kinderhook Republican said. “The other side is very energized. They are determined to reverse the outcome of the 2016 election; that’s what this is really about, folks, when you really cut to the chase. The Democrats, if they win control of the House of Representatives, the very first item on the agenda, is going to be impeachment [of President Donald Trump],” he said. Faso said Democrats have failed to produce anything that could be seen as an impeachable offense. “Excessive tweeting is not an impeachable offense, last time I looked,” he laughed. Faso told those in attendance that Republicans should talk to Democrats to find common ground, at the same time he characterized "people on the other side" as intolerant. In late 2017, the first-term Congressman was named one of Roll Call's 10 most vulnerable House incumbents at mid-term. A field of seven Democrats are currently vying to unseat him in November. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.
• Ariél Zangla reports in The Daily Freeman that objections were filed with the state Board of Elections over the nominating petitions of three candidates in the election for New York’s 19th Congressional District seat. There were objections filed against the petitions for Democrat Erin Collier, Green Party candidate Steven Greenfield, and Women’s Equality Party candidate Chad McEvoy before the April 23 deadline. John Conklin, director of public information for the election board, wrote in an email, “Bipartisan teams will begin to review the objections and determine if they are valid and whether it will reduce the number of valid signatures on the given petition.... If enough signatures are declared invalid so that the petition is invalid, the candidate is notified and offered a public hearing to attempt to change the staff determination. Otherwise, the staff recommendations go to the commissioners for a vote at their next meeting, which is currently scheduled for May 3.” The objection to Collier’s petition was filed by Barbara Sides, a supporter of competing Democratic candidate Pat Ryan , and a voting member of the Gardiner Democratic Committee. In an email, she claimed Collier needed at least 1,250 valid signatures but had only 284. “In reviewing the petitions, I’ve seen an entire sheet with signatures of people who live in NYC (New York City) and the Bronx — not in CD-19 as required,” Sides wrote. “About 90 percent of the petition witnesses are from NYC, and it is possible that they did not understand or hadn’t been told the requirements for petitioning in the Hudson Valley. Additionally, numerous signatures are completely illegible, and some signers signed their name on multiple petitions.” Collier, in an April 16 Facebook post, claimed it was just politics at play. “In a thinly veiled attempt to keep the only woman in this race from having a chance to run, ‘Democratic’ candidate Pat Ryan is behind a lawsuit to kick me off the ballot,” Collier wrote. “In 2018, women should have a seat at the table. Because when we’re not at the table, we don’t get paid fair wages, and our health care is thrown around as a political bargaining chip.” Greenfield is the lone Green Party candidate running in the Congressional election, and McEvoy is not really in the election, but filed as a placeholder for the Women’s Equality Party line to let the eventual Democratic nominee take his spot. Collier, of Cooperstown, and Ryan, of Gardiner, are opposing Jeffrey Beals of Woodstock; David Clegg of Woodstock; Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck; Brian Flynn of Elka Park; and Gareth Rhodes of Kerhonkson in the Democratic primary June 26. Two independents, who did not require petitions, have announced they are running: actor Diane Neal, from Hurley, and activist Luisa Parker of Callicoon. They all want to take on incumbent Republican John Faso, who hails from Kinderhook. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.
• The Mid-Hudson News Network reports the Upper Delaware Council gave its Advocacy Award this week to Faso for his support of the council’s federal funding and for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie said Faso shows “exemplary support for the sustainability of our organization and for the Delaware River watershed.” Faso was enthusiastic about the council, saying it “performs critical work to conserve and manage the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.” Read the full story at the Mid-Hudson News Network website.
• Faso discussed "the oversupply of milk in the U.S. and how Canada’s supply management system is impacting their neighbours to the south" April 22 with the Canadian news outlet, Global News.
• This week there was not much voting in Congress, and Faso only released one press release. It boasted that the Congressperson from Kinderhook was "Recognized as One of Most Bipartisan Members in House of Representatives." The Lugar Center Bipartisan Index did rank Faso the 18th most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives for 2017. But for voters locally, the district is now represented by someone less bipartisan than last year. In 2016, Republican Chris Gibson, also from Kinderhook, finished third in the same ranking. In Congress April 24 Faso voted for the resolution, "Recognizing and supporting the efforts of the United Bid Committee to bring the 2026 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup competition to Canada, Mexico, and the United States." Congress did not consider much this week, with Republicans and Democrats mostly agreeing on a few non-controversial bills. • The Mid-Hudson News Network is reporting U.S. Rep. John Faso dismissed his critics and vowed victory for Republican candidates in remarks made at a political fundraiser on April 22. “There is, no doubt, excessive polarization in our country,” the Kinderhook Republican said. “The other side is very energized. They are determined to reverse the outcome of the 2016 election; that’s what this is really about, folks, when you really cut to the chase. The Democrats, if they win control of the House of Representatives, the very first item on the agenda, is going to be impeachment [of President Donald Trump],” he said. Faso said Democrats have failed to produce anything that could be seen as an impeachable offense. “Excessive tweeting is not an impeachable offense, last time I looked,” he laughed. Faso told those in attendance that Republicans should talk to Democrats to find common ground, at the same time he characterized "people on the other side" as intolerant. In late 2017, the first-term Congressman was named one of Roll Call's 10 most vulnerable House incumbents at mid-term. A field of seven Democrats are currently vying to unseat him in November. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.
• Ariél Zangla reports in The Daily Freeman that objections were filed with the state Board of Elections over the nominating petitions of three candidates in the election for New York’s 19th Congressional District seat. There were objections filed against the petitions for Democrat Erin Collier, Green Party candidate Steven Greenfield, and Women’s Equality Party candidate Chad McEvoy before the April 23 deadline. John Conklin, director of public information for the election board, wrote in an email, “Bipartisan teams will begin to review the objections and determine if they are valid and whether it will reduce the number of valid signatures on the given petition.... If enough signatures are declared invalid so that the petition is invalid, the candidate is notified and offered a public hearing to attempt to change the staff determination. Otherwise, the staff recommendations go to the commissioners for a vote at their next meeting, which is currently scheduled for May 3.” The objection to Collier’s petition was filed by Barbara Sides, a supporter of competing Democratic candidate Pat Ryan , and a voting member of the Gardiner Democratic Committee. In an email, she claimed Collier needed at least 1,250 valid signatures but had only 284. “In reviewing the petitions, I’ve seen an entire sheet with signatures of people who live in NYC (New York City) and the Bronx — not in CD-19 as required,” Sides wrote. “About 90 percent of the petition witnesses are from NYC, and it is possible that they did not understand or hadn’t been told the requirements for petitioning in the Hudson Valley. Additionally, numerous signatures are completely illegible, and some signers signed their name on multiple petitions.” Collier, in an April 16 Facebook post, claimed it was just politics at play. “In a thinly veiled attempt to keep the only woman in this race from having a chance to run, ‘Democratic’ candidate Pat Ryan is behind a lawsuit to kick me off the ballot,” Collier wrote. “In 2018, women should have a seat at the table. Because when we’re not at the table, we don’t get paid fair wages, and our health care is thrown around as a political bargaining chip.” Greenfield is the lone Green Party candidate running in the Congressional election, and McEvoy is not really in the election, but filed as a placeholder for the Women’s Equality Party line to let the eventual Democratic nominee take his spot. Collier, of Cooperstown, and Ryan, of Gardiner, are opposing Jeffrey Beals of Woodstock; David Clegg of Woodstock; Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck; Brian Flynn of Elka Park; and Gareth Rhodes of Kerhonkson in the Democratic primary June 26. Two independents, who did not require petitions, have announced they are running: actor Diane Neal, from Hurley, and activist Luisa Parker of Callicoon. They all want to take on incumbent Republican John Faso, who hails from Kinderhook. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.
• The Mid-Hudson News Network reports the Upper Delaware Council gave its Advocacy Award this week to Faso for his support of the council’s federal funding and for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie said Faso shows “exemplary support for the sustainability of our organization and for the Delaware River watershed.” Faso was enthusiastic about the council, saying it “performs critical work to conserve and manage the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.” Read the full story at the Mid-Hudson News Network website.
• Faso discussed "the oversupply of milk in the U.S. and how Canada’s supply management system is impacting their neighbours to the south" April 22 with the Canadian news outlet, Global News.