New York's 19th congressional district has long been under-represented by Republican Bush enabler Sue Kelly who was elected to congress in 1994 as a result of the Republican "Contract with America" wave. For more on Sue Kelly's rubber stamp approach to politics please visit
Take19, a terrific blog dedicated to exposing Sue Kelly for the fraud that she is. Please note that Take19 is not endorsing any Democratic primary candidate. Among the candidates hoping to emerge as the Democratic nominee to replace Kelly is
John Hall, a longtime activist who has been fighting for the environment and for development of alternative energy sources for decades. More below.
About the District
The 19th c.d. encompasses all of Putnam, northern Westchester, northern Rockland, southern Dutchess, and part of Orange Counties. The Republican, Conservative and Right to life registered voters total roughly 168,500 while the registered Democratic, Liberal, Green and Working Families Party voters total approx. 145,000. While it appears that the district leans to the right, there are also 109,000 registered voters in NY-19 that are unaffiliated, meaning they belong to neither party. These voters are the ones that can swing the balance and the poor Bush approval numbers and the Republican culture of corruption that Sue Kelly supported can play a big role in turning this c.d. blue.
Does the name John Hall sound familiar?
It should. John is an award winning musician who is a founding member of the band "Orleans" and has co-written their hit songs "Still the One" and "Dance With Me". He has also written and directed music for a number of Braosway and Off-Broadway shows and has performed with, produced or written songs for Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, The Doobie Brothers, Chaka Khan, Ricky Skaggs, James Taylor and others.
Some big endorsements for Hall
Of the five counties, John has won the party endorsement in three of the five counties with those victories all coming on the first ballot. In the Rockland County Democratic party nominating convention John won 90% of the vote, in Dutchess County he won over 81% of the delegates and received just under 60% in Orange County. In addition to the three county party endorsements, John has also received endorsements from many labor unions including: IBEW Local 3, UFCW Local 1500, IATSE Local 1, AFM International Union, AFM Local 802 most recently the endorsement from the powerful 275,000 member SEIU Local 1199. John himself has been a 35 year member of Local 802, A.F. of M and AFTRA.
A little about John's history as a politician and activist
Having served as an Ulster County legislator representing the town of Saugerties and later as the Saugerties School Board President, John Hall does have prior legislative experience. It was his local environmental activism that led him to win that County Legislative seat. A little about John's activism on behalf of the environment and alternative energy development:
Environmental and political concerns have been a recurrent theme in John Hall songs, culminating in the song "Power." An ode to alternative energy, it was the title track of an album John released three weeks before the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. It was later recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger, Holly Near, and was the theme song of No Nukes concerts. Along with Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne, John was one of the organizers of those five sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden (preserved as a Warner Brothers movie and CD) and he served on the board of the foundation that disbursed over $750,000 to solar energy and conservation projects around the country.
This activist urge also involved him in the group Mid-Hudson Nuclear Opponents, who successfully fought the siting of a nuclear power plant on the Hudson River in Greene County. While living in Saugerties, John co-founded Saugerties Concerned Citizens, and helped write the town's first zoning law. When Ulster County announced plans for a 200 acre solid waste dump on the historic Winston Farm, John led the opposition. This effort culminated in his 1989 election to the Ulster County Legislature, where he served one term before returning to his musical career.
John Hall on other key issues: Snippets from his website. More info available there.
Iraq: John Hall opposed the invasion of Iraq right from the beginning. Some of what John has to say about Iraq.
I believe America has, and should always have, a first-rate military. I did not support the invasion of Iraq. I believe in following the Constitution by letting Congress decide when to declare war, but in this instance Congress and the American people were deceived. Now that we're in this mess, we should extricate our troops as quickly as possible by transferring control to a true multinational force as proposed by Thomas Barnett in his book "The Pentagon's New Map." If this administration is not willing to share contracts for rebuilding, give up decisionmaking power to the U.N. or a true coalition of other nations during a transition, then I would vote for orderly but immediate withdrawal. Our continued presence there, combined with incidents of torture and accidental bombing or shooting of innocent Iraqis, is turning our traditonal friends around the world against us and aiding the recruitment of our enemies.
Health Care:
I support a Real Prescription Drug Benefit that gives every senior and person with disabilities access to every drug at the best possible price. We need a plan that allows Medicare to negotiate for the lowest possible price to rein in the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. The new Medicare prescription drug law was the wrong solution; it must be repealed and replaced.
I will work to protect Medicaid. More than 25 million children (one-fourth of all children in America), 13 million low-income parents, 8 million people with disabilities and 5 million elderly receive health care coverage from Medicaid. Medicaid should not be cut in order to finance tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and corporations.
Women's Issues and Privacy:
American women need better access to health care, contraception, and reproductive education. I will fight to secure those and to protect and defend a woman's right to choose. Similarly, an individual and his or her closest family members have the right to deal with end-of-life issues, free from government meddling.
As your Congressman, John Hall will fight for:
* Single Payer Health Care
* Strengthening Medicaid and Medicare and real prescription drug benefits
* Reproductive Choice and privacy
* Access to contraception, legal abortion and sex education
* Removing insurance companies from decisions about your health care needs
* Full funding for Title X as a national health priority
* Over-the-counter access to emergency contraception known as "Plan B"
* Support of HR. 1709, the "Prevention First Act"
* Science-based decision-making regarding the licensing of drugs including RU-486 and Plan B
* Restoring international family planning and sex education programs
Education:
Education of our children is, in fact, a national security issue. Only an educated populace can make the right decisions as a democracy, or compete in the global economy, find cures for the environmental and medical problems we face. As an ex-school board president, I can say that some schools are doing pretty well, and others miserably. Once again it largely comes down to money: the current system of financing education should be changed so that property owners are not the default source of funding. Teachers, especially in inner city schools, should be paid a professional's salary, sufficient to attract talented, enthusiastic, and fully qualified instructors. Unfunded Federal and State mandates should be fully funded or dropped. Diversions of public school funds to charter schools or vouchers should not be allowed, until and unless all public schools are adequately funded. Incentives to study the sciences, particularly engineering, should be put in place so that we can compete with the burgeoning high-tech industries in Asia and elsewhere.
More about John's positions on energy, environment, voting integrity, civil rights, checks & balances.
Current state of the primary race
As one of six candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, John Hall ranked third in fundraising after the first quarter 2006 results were released. Since then, John has really stepped up his fundraising efforts. A recent fundraiser featuring Jackson Browne netted $100,000 for the campaign. From the Hotline Blog:
At first glance, Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY 19) would seem like a vulnerable incumbent -- especially with a tough environment statewide.
The Dem candidate with momentum is musician John Hall, best known for his '70s hit "Still The One." He won three key county endorsements by big margins. And he's been on a fundraising roll. Since the last filing period, he banked over $100K for a fundraiser with Jackson Browne and he's expected to raise more from a Bonnie Raitt concert.
Hall's also the most liberal candidate in the field. He supports an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and touts his plan for universal health care. Meanwhile, atty. Judy Aydelott, once viewed as the frontrunner, has underperformed at county conventions.
Browne has already helped in a number of fundraisers for John and just last night a private after-concert fundraiser hosted by Bonnie Raitt and Steve Van Zandt is expected to also bring in a lot of needed campaign cash. Others of note that have taken on a role in fundraising are: Pete Seeger, Maurice Hinchey and Graham Nash. It is also important to note that
Joe Trippi has joined the campaign.
This is a crowded primary field and with such a late primary (Sept. 12) there is a need for a frontrunner to emerge and some of the other candidates to drop out. This would allow a more concentrated group of primary candidates to emerge and gain greater name recognition. With less than two months between the primary and the general election, we need to be able to rally around a candidate sooner rather than later. With his recent fundraising success and the endorsements of 3 of the 5 county party conventions, John is one of two candidates who can be called the frontrunner.
How you can help
Contribute to the John Hall Campaign. With a big reporting deadline coming up this Friday, your campaign contribution is very important and appreciated. For those who prefer to contribute through ActBlue, here is his ActBlue page.
You can also volunteer with the campaign. John can use your help on the ground, so if you've got the time to spare, please volunteer.
John has been fighting the good fight for a long time and has a long track record of activism. He would make a terrific replacement for Republican Sue Kelly and with your help we can elect John Hall to Congress.