The battle to succeed Rangel
Adriano Espaillat, Democrat
What three things do you most want to get done as Member of Congress during the next two years?
Immigration Reform: 11 million Americans are living in the shadows. We have a chance to transform their lives for the better and grow our economy by passing comprehensive immigration reform. Undocumented families are vulnerable to workplace exploitation, unable to obtain a driver’s license to take their kids to school, and living in constant fear. Instead of treating millions like criminals, we can give these tax-paying, patriotic families the chance to pursue the American dream.
Affordable Housing: we have a public housing crisis in this city because the federal government has abandoned NYCHA families. This neglect is responsible for leaks that cause toxic mold and give our children asthma, and broken elevators that leave seniors trapped in the homes. We have a wave of tenant harassment and evictions caused by unchecked gentrification. I have a plan to reinvent the federal government’s response, and it starts by creating federal gentrification mitigation zones. Gun violence and criminal Justice Reform: Our country has become numb to horrific mass shootings, or the latest senseless injustice inflicted on communities of color across the country. We need to fight the wasteful mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, promote alternatives to incarceration and get guns off of our streets. While the NRA will fight these common sense solutions, we can’t let up.
Do you think you will be able to work with the opposition party? How?
The best way to accomplish change is through building an inclusive coalition. Despite a Republican Governor and Senate, I passed legislation allowing all New Yorkers to qualify for in-state tuition rates at SUNY and CUNY schools, regardless of immigration status. And as the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Housing Committee, I prevented landlord special interests from eliminating the state’s Tenant Protection Unit. We need real solutions for the challenges facing our country, and I am hopeful for bipartisan cooperation on priorities like infrastructure and student loan debt reform.
But I also won’t hesitate to denounce extreme right-wing forces that believe climate change is a hoax, deny reproductive rights for women, and want to tear millions of families apart through forced deportations.
What book has had the greatest impact on you, and why?
“One Hundred Years of Solitude.” I read it as a student, and several times throughout my life. Every time I do, I discover new meaning and symbolism in passages I thought I already understood. The struggle of tradition versus modernity is still relevant today for anyone in public service.
Tony Evans, Republican and Independence
What three things do you most want to get done as Member of Congress during the next two years?
The most important thing to accomplish in the first term is to work to increase the support for the NYC charter schools. Presently the amount of monetary support provided is less than ideal. As a newly elected member working to get assigned to a committee where my voice for my constituents can add value is the first task. I’m hopeful that the leadership will see my trial experience and my banking experience will hod me in good stead to get assigned. As a Republican from a historically Democrat district being elected requires cross party support so cross support is what I expect to use to succeed for the people in this district.
Do you think you will be able to work with the opposition party? How?
I absolutely believe I can work with people across the aisle. My experience as a defense attorney means I regularly work with and work against prosecutors, district attorneys and their teams as part of my job. Then we proceed toward a solution if one is available without going to trial. If not, we argue the merits and sort out the facts. In my prior long career on Wall Street, the only thing that mattered was success and so we always worked with others and their ideas and methods to achieve the client goals. The only way to get anything done is to ignore party politics and focus for the people in this district.
What book has had the greatest impact on you, and why?
The book that’s had the greatest impact on me is my prayer missal. I use it each and every day to refocus myself on the real issues. As a lifelong person of faith, I believe that service and compassion play an important part in each of our daily lives.
Scott Lloyd Fenstermaker, Transparent Gov’t.
What three things do you most want to get done as Member of Congress during the next two years?
I would like to help change the narrative that seems to favor what I believe to be bloated foreign policies and military adventures at the expense of pressing needs here at home, particularly in New York’s 13th Congressional District. The United States’ interventionist bent is inappropriate when so many Americans are struggling with housing, education issues and jobs. Second, I would like to work on recruiting candidates for the House of Representatives and the Senate who are willing to confront, head on, the issues facing minorities and the poor in our country. Neither of the Presidential candidates is addressing these issues, so the federal and state legislatures need to step up and make sure that no one is left behind in our society. Finally, I would like to revitalize New York’s 13th Congressional District by inspiring each of its federal, state and local leaders to more directly engage the district’s residents, including those who can’t vote. The current state of political disengagement is a sore point for the District’s residents.
Do you think you will be able to work with the opposition party? How?
As an independent candidate, it is unclear to me whether any of the other political parties are in “opposition” to me and my effort. Like Hillary Clinton, I was a Republican at one point, and am now an independent. My registration as a Democrat, which I filed with the Board of Elections on November 23, 2015, will take legal effect the week after the November 8th election. Hence, when I am sworn in in January, I will be a Democrat, having been both a Republican and an Independent during my lifetime. Having lived in every time zone in the continental United States, I am uniquely qualified to work with any and all political parties in furtherance of our country’s and my district’s best interests. At the end of the day, party affiliation is not nearly as important as what one hopes to accomplish and by which means one hopes to accomplish that. Blindly adhering to party doctrine in the name of party unity makes our country less unified and serves to foolishly divide us. What our country and my district need are solutions, not more senseless partisan bickering.
What book has had the greatest impact on you, and why?
“To Kill a Mockingbird.” That masterpiece had many themes, but what impressed me the most was its emphasis on the importance of developing the ability to see circumstances from the point of view of others. We seem to have lost that ability in our country and that loss weakens us.
Also on the ballot: Daniel Vila Rivera, a Green Party candidate, who did not respond to an inquiry.