Gates Supervisor Mark Assini, a Republican, officially announced his candidacy for the 25th Congressional District last night. And in a somewhat subtle way, Democrat Louise Slaughter confirmed she’ll be running for re-election.
Just before the start of Assini’s 5:30 p.m. announcement at the Italian American Community Center in Gates, Slaughter’s campaign office sent out this statement:
“Monroe County has sent Louise Slaughter to Congress because she’s a tough fighter who delivers results for the constituents she is proud to represent. Upstate New York has a tradition of rejecting Tea Party politics and electing trustworthy leaders like Louise who work hard to rebuild our region’s economy. We look forward to discussing our region’s future, and to earning each and every vote.”
Assini, who took the podium to a standing ovation, announced his candidacy to a room filled with key Republicans, including current legislators, Republican town supervisors, county Republican Party chair Bill Reilich and County Executive Maggie Brooks. After telling the crowd a little bit about his family history — his grandfather immigrated to the United States from Italy and was able work hard, earn a law degree, and help people in Gates — he set the tone for his upcoming campaign.
“Washington is broken, there’s no doubt about it,” Assini told the crowd. “There’s no collaboration, no compromise.”
Change, he said, won’t happen without replacing the people in Congress who have caused the gridlock and who have failed to compromise.
Speaking to media later, Assini portrayed himself as someone who believes in working across party lines. It doesn’t matter whether an idea comes form a Democrat or Republican, he said — if it’s a good idea, it should be explored.
Assini said he worked with Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, co-chair of the state Democratic Party, to make sure a pension proposal floated last year by the governor didn’t get off the ground.
Assini said that unlike other Republicans, he’s willing to entertain changes to the Affordable Care Act, and he said that Congress ought to be looking at the Canadian and British systems to see what’s worked in those countries.
But Assini is attempting to do something that 13 other Republicans haven’t failed to do: beat Slaughter. Two years ago, County Executive Maggie Brooks, arguably one of the most popular local Republicans, lost to Slaughter by about 15 percentage points. But Assini said that voters are more frustrated with Congress than they were then. The fact that President Obama was running for re-election in 2012 also helped Slaughter, he said.
“It’s a different race and a different time, Assini said.
Another candidate, Tim Dean, plans to run for the 25th District seat. Dean’s website doesn’t say what party he’s enrolled in, though he refers to himself as an “Independent.”
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2014.
Maybe he could win, if he stays away from the traditional GOP line in this area of repeating “the taxpayer” over and over in every statement he makes. The only thing Warren didn’t do in her bodyguard speeding scandal was say it was a good investment for the “taxpayer” to pay $160k a year for her bodyguards. The 25th district is a more marginal Democratic seat than people think, but if Assini tries to run saying we need to replace an 85-year-old with someone who looks 25, he’ll get his head justifiably handed to him. If he avoids National Republican Congressional Committee money and “Tea Party” rhetoric, he might be able to pull off an upset. At least I’ve heard of him before, unlike most of the challengers Slaughter has had over the last 10 years (Brooks aside).
Mark Assini will not win, lifelong Greece resident Tim Dean will win, and it will prove to be the biggest single political upset in recent history. Mark made a couple crucial errors in his speech. The first was to say he wants to “IMPROVE” the Affordable Care Act. Why promise to improve what constitutes nothing more than a monumental failure? Throw Obamacare out and re-regulate the insurance industry. The next major “FOOT IN MOUTH” statement Mr. Assini made was to say this: “Change, he said, won’t happen without replacing the people in Congress who have caused the gridlock and who have failed to compromise. ” Well Excuse me Mark, but when you announce as a Republican and then make statements like this, you’re pretty much denying the fact that the Republicans are 50% of the problem along side the Democrats. The PROBLEM, Mark, is the TWO PARTY DOMINANCE which has monopolized every election in recent history. People are fed up with Republicans and people are fed up with Democrats. Both parties have had their opportunities and both have failed. MISERABLY. Two party dominance on Capital Hill needs to end now and it starts with Tim Dean.
Slaughter is an ultra-far-left extremist and one of the most bitterly partisan figures in Congress. Monroe County deserves much, much better — and certainly deserves for those working for a better future to unite and provide voters a viable choice.