To the Editor:
Career politicians and insiders have mastered the art of saying the diametric opposite of the truth long enough and loud enough until the people become so disenchanted they don’t know what to believe.
That’s precisely what’s happening in the 22nd Congressional district race to Claudia Tenney, a stalwart conservative and small manufacturing business owner who has fought against tax increases, regulations, and corruption tirelessly for years.
We should know because we’ve been in the trenches alongside Claudia from Day One. We have endorsed her for her excellent record in the Assembly in every primary and general election.
Claudia’s conservative credentials are outstanding. She earned the 2011 Conservative of the Year Award from the New York State Conservative Party in her first year in the state Assembly because she fearlessly fought the tax-and-spend Cuomo budgets and the tyrannical reign of convicted felon, then-Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver.
As early as 2012 (only a little more than a year into the job), she called on Silver to resign for his cover-up and illegal payouts over sexual harassment committed by another member of the assembly, the first elected official to do so.
Since then, she has fought Silver and his cronies every step of the way on taxes, spending, and most especially corruption – introducing serious ethics reform legislation that would end career politician syndrome by cutting legislative pay and pensions.
As for the attack that Claudia votes with Silver? A lie. Claudia is in the bottom five out of all 150 members of the Assembly when it comes to voting with Silver.
Claudia went even further and stood up to her own party bosses in Albany by voting against over-spending budgets and tax increases.
When the corruption got so bad even Cuomo had to give lip-service to ethics reform, Claudia stood on the Assembly floor and voted for anti-corruption federal prosecutor Preet Bharara to be Speaker of the Assembly, much to the consternation of the GOP leadership.
Moreover, Claudia stands up for what’s right for the people when it is needed, not when it is popular or convenient. She was the strongest voice against the unconstitutional SAFE Act in 2013 and beyond – standing arm in arm with Remington Arms and its employees against Cuomo and his cowardly GOP enablers. That’s why she’s endorsed by Remington’s employees for Congress.
She has introduced pro-life legislation in the State Assembly.
She has stood up against corruption and cronyism like StartUp NY time after time. Her opposition to Cuomo even got her a threat to be removed from the governor’s mansion for wearing her pink Remington hat.
To no one’s surprise, this has earned her plenty of enemies in Albany, at home and from those who like the system just the way it is. Corrupt and self-serving insiders like Ray Halbritter, who is behind Grow the Economy PAC, are funding a million dollar smear campaign against Claudia.
Their repeated false attack on Claudia: she missed votes. The truth? Claudia has one of the best attendance records in Albany. The smear merchants are not giving you the full story. Claudia wasn’t able to cast in person ballots during her mother’s illness, death, and funeral, and when her son graduated from the US Naval Academy. That’s less than four percent of the thousands of bills that are considered in a single term. As with all Assembly members, Claudia was able to make up those votes on paper ballots.
One of her opponents who has given tens of thousands of dollars to the insider politicians including $11,500 to Governor Cuomo, received millions in state contracts, and spent tens of thousands lobbying for contracts in Albany. He says he’s the outsider. That’s laughable.
Both of her opponents have sided with corrupt Ray Halbritter and his Cuomo cronies to double-down on the lies about Claudia.
DC doesn’t need any more crooks and liars in Congress. Instead, we need a proven conservative fighter for us in Washington.
Claudia Tenney, a small manufacturing business owner and a single mother who raised a Marine Corps officer, has always had our back. That is why she is just the kind of fighter New York’s 22nd District deserves
Michael Long, New York State Conservative Party Chairman
Shaun Marie Levine, New York State Conservative Party Executive Director
Christopher Kendall, Madison County Conservative Party Chairman, New York State Conservative Party Executive Committee Member
Rev. Jason J. McGuire, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms PAC, New York State Conservative Party Executive Committee Member
Todd Collins, Oneida County Conservative Party Chairman
Ronald Greenleaf, Oswego County Conservative Party Chairman
Marilyn R. Williams, Herkimer County Conservative Party Chair
I am so glad that these respected Conservative leaders wrote such a wonderful and necessary letter to give voters the truth about the smear campaign against a proven Conservative, Claudia Tenney. Thank you for addressing the continuous stream of lies filling our mailboxes and TV screens, especially from candidate Steve Wells and Ray Halbritter’s Grow the Economy PAC. It is time for the voters to know the truth! Those who are attacking Claudia Tenney with half-truths and outright lies, do so to distract from their nefarious purposes. Wake up, voters, because the attackers are the ones to be afraid of! Claudia Tenney is the only candidate who has stood up for our principles in Albany, and the only one who will have our back in Congress!