Patricia R. Doxsey in the Daily Freeman compares Marc Molinaro and Pat Ryan, the two candidates running in a special election Aug. 13-23 to serve in Antonio Delgado's 19th Congressional District seat for the final week's of his term. Molinaro, a Republican, is currently the Dutchess County Executive, and Ryan, a Democrat, is the Ulster County Executive. Molinaro is well-known locally, holding public office since he was 18, first as a village of Tivoli trustee, then as its mayor, then as a county legislator, state assemblyperson, and now county executive. He also lost a bid for governor against then Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2018. “My entire life, and I do not apologize for it, has been about trying to make government function for the people,” Molinaro said. “I want Congress and Washington to function for the people of Upstate New York.” Ryan is a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran who has been Ulster County executive since 2019 after losing to Delgado in 2018's crowded Democrat Congressional primary election. “What I think the American people need and deserve right now are patriots, patriots who understand the existential nature of the threat to our democracy. When you look at other Americans storming our Capitol and willing to take away our fundamental rights and that’s what I’m standing up for,” Ryan said. Molinaro does not often talk about his party's position on the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021, nor about his party's views on abortion, instead focusing on inflation. “I’m running at this important moment because I believe the district, the residents in this community in upstate New York deserve somebody who is going to leverage every resource, every experience, and every relationship on their behalf to deliver real results, just as I have done every day of my adult life,” Molinaro said. Ryan, contrasts his career with Molinaro's. “We’ve got plenty of career politicians in Washington, what’s missing are real leaders, leakers with backbone, leaders who have put their life on the line for our country, who built successful businesses, who brought people during difficult and trying times and ultimately leaders who deliver,” Ryan said. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.