Local Reform Candidate Distinguishes Himself from NYC College Professor in First Debate
KINDERHOOK, NY … September 15, 2016 — John Faso, who has been running a grassroots campaign in his bid for the 19th Congressional District, distinguished himself and delivered a series of blows to his opponent in their first one-on-one debate today.
During the one-hour event — the first of at least 10 debates and forums that the Faso campaign has agreed to — Faso highlighted his record as a fiscal hawk, his deep roots in the district and outlined a series of policy proposals to streamline government, eliminate burdens on business to kick-start the local economy and reform Washington’s fiscal chaos. The overarching issue, Faso continuously emphasized, is growing the economy.
“Jobs and the economy, that’s the single most important thing we can do in Congress,” Faso said during the debate, while outlining his plans to help small businesses, cut property taxes and ease the Medicaid spending burden on local governments and taxpayers. “People are looking for someone with experience.”
Faso also distinguished himself on foreign policy, national security, taxes and agricultural issues while also picking apart Professor Teachout’s radical ideas to have taxpayers spend millions on elections, raise taxes on energy and a series of false narratives she is selling in her campaign. He also called her out for only moving to the districtly recently from Brooklyn, and not voting in her local school board election.
“New York City is a great place — it already has 13 congressmen. We don’t need to give it a 14th,” he continued.
If elected, Faso said he would be able to work in a bipartisan way, and criticized Professor Teachout’s radical views: “She belongs to the far left.”
The debate, sponsored by WAMC Northeast Public radio, was held before a packed auditorium at The Linda in Albany and broadcast live on WNYT and C-Span. It was hosted by Dr. Alan Chartock and co-moderated by WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne, Albany Times Union State Editor Casey Seiler and Benita Zahn, WNYT’s health reporter, who covered a range of topics and policy questions.
Throughout the debate, Faso often pointed to Professor Teachout’s liberal policy prescriptions and highlighted that she does not know the district or issues that are important to voters, in part, because she only moved here and registered to vote her earlier this year.
Faso, meanwhile, has lived in the district for more than 33 years. He has raised his family here, grown a business, and represented it as minority leader in the Assembly.
He also referenced his time in the Assembly where he worked with both sides of the political aisle and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit.
He championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families such as the STAR program and education and real property tax reform. A former board member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Faso also served for three years as a member of the Control Board that worked to fix the financial and managerial issues of the City of Buffalo and its school system.
Faso is running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines in November’s general election.
Mr. Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook, New York, for more than three decades.
John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.
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