Kirsten Gillibrand also champions fiscal restraint
Published on 12/23/2005, By MAURY THOMPSON , Post Star
Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand said Thursday her campaign will focus on tax cuts for the middle class, fiscal restraint and the need to develop alternative energy.
"I'm also a different kind of Democrat," she said in a telephone interview with The Post-Star.
Gillibrand, a lawyer from Hudson, said she will announce a campaign platform early next month that will include a plan to provide tax incentives for companies that develop alternative energy technologies.
She also will propose tax cuts for households earning $100,000 or less, an income level typical in the 20th Congressional District, Gillibrand said.
She favors repealing some of President Bush's earlier tax cuts, however.
Democratic committees in Saratoga, Columbia and Otsego counties have already endorsed her campaign, and she has raised more than $300,000 in what is expected to be a costly campaign, Gillibrand said. Four-term incumbent U.S. Rep John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, had $712,933 in his campaign account as of Sept. 30, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Sweeney has consistently fared well in the heavily Republican district that stretches from North Elba in Essex County south to Dutchess and Delaware counties.
He received two-thirds or more of the vote in each of the last three elections.
But Gillibrand said voters are ready for a change from "career politicians."
Gillibrand said 92 percent of Sweeney's votes in Congress have been in line with those of former house Majority Leader Tom Delay.
Sweeney was traveling on Thursday and not available to comment, said his spokeswoman, Melissa Carlson.
In a prepared statement, she said Sweeney has arranged $5 million in funding for projects in Warren County over the past five years, and in recent months has concentrated on efforts to reduce Medicaid fraud.
"Congressman John Sweeney stands by his record of accomplishment," she said.
Democrat Party leaders are prepared to help Gillibrand raise as much as $1.5 million for the campaign, said Saratoga County Democratic Chairman Larry Bulman.
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is scheduled to appear at a $1,000-per-person "coffee and conversation" reception Jan. 12 in New York City to benefit Gillibrand's campaign.
"She (Gillibrand) knows how to fundraise, and then she's going to get her message out," Bulman said.
Morris Guller, a political activist from Greene County, also is seeking the Democratic nomination.