A packed Bethlehem Town Hall played host to the final Democratic candidate debate for the 21st Congressional District before the Sept. 9 primary.
Four out of five of the Democrats vying for the seat of retiring Congressman Michael McNulty, D-Green Island, attended the debate, which was sponsored by Democracy for the Hudson Mohawk Region (DFHMR) and supported by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace (BNP). Robert B. Ward, deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute, was the evening’s moderator.
Albany City Democrat Joseph Sullivan was expected but did not make an appearance at the event. Sullivan did issue a statement about his absence.
First, I noticed in the advance publicity for the forum, that DFHMR had already endorsed Phil Steck, Sullivan stated. `Second, I knew that the audience would largely be made up of aides to the four other candidates, and members of your [DFHMR and BNP] two groups, who would not be receptive to my message or positions on the issues. Few minds to be changed or votes to be gotten here.`
The debate covered a wide array of topics but focused specifically on policies such as foreign and domestic issues, energy, health care, education, campaign finance and even allowed for a section where the candidates asked one another a question.
Democratic candidates Tracey Brooks of Coeymans, Darius Shahinfar of Albany, Phil Steck of Colonie, and Paul Tonko of Amsterdam fielded questions for more than two hours.
The candidates were each given a two-minute introduction and closing statement and were limited to one-minute answers, which was harder for some candidates than others. On multiple occasions throughout the night Tonko was cut off and asked to stop speaking.
The rules of the debate allowed a candidate to give a 30-second rebuttal if they were specifically named during another candidate’s answer, something that Steck took advantage of by taking jabs at opponents Tonko and Brooks.
He wasn’t the only one though, as Brooks also took a shot at Tonko’s support of energy deregulation during his tenure in the state’s Assembly.
Tonko got his 30 seconds, and a little more, to tell Brooks he respects her opinions but she couldn’t use her `own set of facts,` as he blamed the Republican George Pataki administration for going around the state’s Assembly to pass its own energy policies in the state.
All the candidates got a chance to defend themselves, even for comments made during closing statements, as when Steck said Brooks was working for a lobbying firm and Brooks rebutted that she was a lawyer working for a law firm, not a lobbying firm.
The biggest reaction from the crowd came when Brooks asked Steck during her question period if he would still support her as a Democrat if she won the primary, and would he work together with the Democratic Party to put her in office and defeat the Republican challenger for the congressional seat.
Steck’s response sent a flurry of murmurs around the room.
`Well, unlike my colleague over here who spent her early years in the Republican Party and then in the Independence Party, I’ve been a lifelong Democrat,` Steck said. `I’ve been a Democratic chairman, I have worked hard to support the candidates in the Democratic Party, and there’s no reason to assume that this election would be any different.`
Aside from a few occasional differences, the Democrats agreed with one another on a number of the issues, to the point where several jokes were made throughout the night about the similar answers among the candidates.
Steck opened up the debate stating he wanted to end the `corrupting power of lobbyist and special interest` and cited his work as a civil rights and labor attorney to paint himself as a candidate of `real hope` and change.
He also threw in that he was not like the `other lobbyist-dominated candidates up here.`
Tonko went next, stating it was a `very critical time` in history and that he would bring his years of experience from the Assembly to represent a mixed district like the 21st, which includes rural, urban, and suburban interests.
As a career engineer, Tonko said he spent his years of public service working through legislative bodies in order to combat energy issues. Tonko said issues of war, energy and the slumping economy were the top concerns of residents he has spoken with.
Shahinfar said he was running for Congress to `renew America’s Promise,` so that 50 years from now the nation will still be a strong, viable force in the global economy with the same opportunities offered to his parent’s generation.
`I’m the first candidate to reject special interest money,` Shahinfar told the crowd.
The former Kirsten Gillibrand aide went on to say that `change doesn’t come easily,` and that if voters truly wanted change that `career politicians and lobbyists won’t change a thing.`
Brooks gave a well-rehearsed opening statement touting her experience working locally within the district and said she was running to undo the damage caused by the Bush administration.
The former Sen. Hillary Clinton aide talked extensively about health care and pointed to the 42 million Americans currently without health care. She made the possibly not-so-unintentional slip of saying, `A vote for me in November, oops, I mean September, is a vote for change.`
Bruce Bushart, representing Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace, and Kate Powers, representing Democracy for the Hudson Mohawk Region, co-chaired the event.“