Lined up in front of the eight chairs placed side by side at the SEIU building in downtown Albany Wednesday, May 14, were the names of the Democrats vying for the 21st District Congressional seat, which will be vacated by Democrat Michael McNulty at the end of the year. Filling those eight seats were seven men and one woman, all in business suits except one.
Instead of a tie, candidate Arthur Welser wore a T-shirt that said Arthur Welser for Congress: getting rid of the drugs and the thugs.
Wednesday’s debate kicked off with some light humor by contender Darius Shahinfar, who after declaring his name to the crowd said, `It’s a name for politics, don’t ya think?` He later said that when his father stepped off the boat from Iran, the few words he knew included `yes, no` and `hamburger.`
The joking quickly subsided as the eight candidates each tried to show voters they were the best choice to fill the vacancy in Congress in a way that would represent the American people.
During introductions, former Assemblyman and NYSERDA executive Paul Tonko, who had not announced his candidacy in the weeks leading up to the debate said, `I thought long and hard about entering this race,` before advertising himself as the most qualified person for the job due to his many years as a legislator and commitment to tackling issues such as energy.
Also at the debate was John Aretakis, a trial attorney; Tracey Brooks, an attorney; Craig Burridge, executive director and CEO of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York; Lester Freeman, a member of the Albany County Legislature; Darius Shahinfar, former Capital District Representative for Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand; Phil Steck, Albany County legislator; and Welser.
The winner of the Democratic primary, to be held Sept. 9, will face either Republican Jim Buhrmaster or Steven Vasquez in the general election.
Welser admitted that he was probably the only candidate in the race with little-to-no political background, but, he said, `America needs someone from the private sector.`
Topics of the debate varied throughout the night, from global warming and energy conservation to the war in Iraq ` about which all candidates seemed to agree that U.S. troops should be brought home.
The one question that elicited different answers from among the candidates asked what piece of legislation would be the first the candidates sponsored if they were elected into Congress. Candidates had 60 seconds to answer
Brooks said her first action would be to lower gas prices, while Burridge said he would first work on a universal healthcare system, something Shahinfar also mentioned, along with energy legislation.
Freeman said his first initiative would be to change the allowance age for tobacco purchasing, online gambling, marriage, and drinking to 20 years old. He also said that people should be able to enter the military at 18 years old, but not actually be able to fight in combat until they are 20.
Steck said his first initiative would be to work on having an `immediate withdrawal from Iraq.`
`Unless the war in Iraq has ended, all of this [universal healthcare, energy, etc.] is meaningless,` he said.
Welser said his first piece of legislation would require all students who drop out of high school before age 16 to be drafted and create `remedial Saturdays` for students to attend school on the weekends.
Also at the debate, the crowd learned that not all candidates in the race have been Democrats all their lives. Brooks said she was raised in a Republican family, but that she had been a Democrat since 2002. Shahinfar said that for five years he was a Republican.
Aretakis said the issue of global warming is very important to him.
`I’m sure all of you in here are familiar with Al Gore’s movie,` he said, referring to the documentary `An Inconvenient Truth.` `It actually drew a tear to my eye watching that movie.`
Steck later said, `I, too, was impressed by Al Gore’s movie, but in the end, I was left very hollow.`
While many candidates acknowledged that America does have a global warming crisis at hand, Freeman argued, `This is not No. 1 on our plate,` a spot, he said, belonged to low-income families.
`This is a sophisticated issue,` he said. `It doesn’t mean much to the poor families.`
Prior to that question, the candidates were asked if they would consider using nuclear energy.
Welser said he is not 100 percent in favor of using nuclear energy, but that he would `definitely be in favor of looking at nuclear power as an alternative.`
Aretakis said he would not be in favor of nuclear energy because it `causes harm to babies.`
The issue of campaign finance reform also brought forth a variety of answers.
Aretakis said he would not approve such legislation considering how much his family has already given him toward his campaign ` nearly $300,000. Tonko said he agreed with campaign finance reform and that lawmakers shouldn’t `allow our government to get away from the masses.`
The debate lasted more than two hours, during which the candidates assured the crowd that this would not be the last debate of the 21st Congressional District.“