Democratic View: We won’t go back

This election, Democrats offer voters high-quality candidates and an optimistic platform

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are those of author Linda Hoffmann and are not representative of the thoughts or opinions of Tompkins Weekly. 

With early voting set to begin Oct. 26—less than a month away—Tompkins County voters face stark choices among candidates. Democrats are campaigning on an optimistic, can-do platform. Republicans offer a dystopian vision based on fears buttressed by transparent lies.

Mike Sigler, Republican candidate for the State Senate seat in New York’s 52^nd district, opposes abortion except for rape, incest and the health of the mother. He joined other New York Republicans in suing to overturn a law widening early voting ballot access to absentee voters. His silence about Donald Trump’s character and actions signals complicitly with the man who leads the Republican ticket.

Sigler’s opponent, our current Democratic State Senator Lea Webb, has compiled a sterling record in Albany as she fights to expand access to health care and the ballot for all New Yorkers. Urging the Tompkins County Democratic Committee (TCDC) to endorse Webb’s re-election bid, member Ammitai Worob noted that “in less than one term, [Senator Webb] has delivered more meaningful funding to Tompkins County than probably all of her predecessors in her seat combined.” In September alone, Senator Webb announced state grants of $20,000 to the William George Agency for Children’s Services  in Freeville, to support the agency’s Agriculture Education Center, and $250,000 to the Ithaca Fire Department to support the purchase of a new fire rescue boat.

Although Democratic Assemblywoman Anna Kelles (NY-125) is running unopposed, Worob encouraged TCDC members to support her re-election, too: “Working together, these two great legislators saved Ithaca Car Share last year. Bills that they sponsored in their respective legislative bodies [support] organizations that serve those with disabilities in our communities, bills that protect our lakes and water health.”

Voters’ choices for New York’s 19^th Congressional District are cut from very different cloths. Democrat Josh Riley was a smart working-class kid from Endicott who studied hard in high school, attended William and Mary and went on to Harvard Law. Like many local kids, he worked in a big city (Washington) to hone skills and then moved back home. Riley’s deep Southern Tier roots and the experience he acquired in Washington will make this unflagging champion for women, children and the working and middle class a formidable congressman.

With no record of accomplishment, Marc Molinaro projects a fake centrist image. He says he won’t vote for a national abortion ban but voted against reimbursing servicewomen living in forced-birth states for traveling to obtain abortions. The AFL-CIO finds Molinaro voting with working people only 10 percent of the time. If still in office next year, he will certainly vote to renew the deficit-busting rich people’s tax cut of 2017. Molinaro’s vicious and dangerous lies about Haitian immigrants and crime shame him and the district he fecklessly represents.

Locally, District Attorney Matt Van Houten and City Court Judge Rick Wallace are also running unopposed for re-election. Judge Maura Kennedy-Smith is running unopposed for County Judge. All three have earned respect for fair-minded, forward-looking performances in office.

At the national level, New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is running for re-election to the seat she’s held since she was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton in 2009.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, has led a life of service. A seasoned prosecutor, Harris jailed drug dealers and sex traffickers. As California Attorney General, she clawed back money from predatory lenders. As U.S. Senator and Vice President, she championed the right of women to access health care. She is a loving wife, parent, aunt and sister in her blended and extended families.

Republican Donald Trump brags about overturning Roe, an act that deprived around 30 million women ages 15 to 44 access to health care. (A year after fall of Roe v. Wade, 25 million women live in states with abortion bans or restrictions | PBS News). A draft dodger, he disparages the military. His “great” legislative accomplishment was that 2017 tax cut for the wealthy, which fueled the largest deficit in American history. A felon, he also must pay millions in civil damages to a woman he sexually assaulted in a department store dressing room. On January 6th, 2021, he attacked our precious democracy in a foul effort to overturn a lawful election.

Tim Walz also lives a life of service. The Democratic Vice President candidate was a teacher and coach who served in the National Guard. In Congress he worked across the aisle to support service people and veterans. As governor of Minnesota, he secured free meals for every school kid, stood up for women rights, championed the middle and working class AND cut taxes. Walz is a loving family man and a good neighbor.

His Republican opponent, J.D. Vance, professes different values. He is on record as supporting a national abortion ban, believes government should not support childcare and has said that women should remain in abusive relationships. His statements about crime and immigrants are vicious. Vance will serve the rich and well connected.

Democrats at the national, state and local level will fight to secure a just and prosperous future for all of us, whatever our party, gender, ethnicity or religion.

We are not going back. Join me in voting a straight Democratic ballot this upcoming election.

Linda Hoffman is chair of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee.