Located in the center of the large 22nd Congressional District that stretches from Herkimer County to Broome County, Hamilton will be the site of a ninety minute debate between three candidates competing for the seat of retiring Congressman Richard Hanna. Known as a moderate Republican during his three terms in Congress, Hanna made national headlines with his announcement that he will vote for Hillary Clinton.
The three-way debate takes place on Thursday Oct. 13 in the auditorium of the Hamilton Central School on West Kendrick Avenue with on-site parking. Voters are urged to arrive early. The proceedings start at 7 p.m. with the national anthem sung by the Hamilton High School choir.
Republican State Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney from New Hartford faces Democrat Kim Myers, minority leader of the Broome County legislature, and business entrepreneur Martin Babinec from Little Falls. Babinec appears on the ballot as candidate of the Upstate Jobs Party and the Reform Party. Tenney has the endorsement of the Conservative Party; Myers of the Working Families Party.
Tenney is a graduate of Colgate University and the Taft College of Law in Cincinnati. Mother of a Marine Corps officer, she is a practicing attorney, small business owner and publisher who established the Tenney media group of weekly newspapers. In the State Assembly she is known as a strong conservative voice.
Myers is a graduate of SUNY Cortland and the married mother of four grown children and two young adopted ones. She served for 18 years on the Vestal school board, eight years as president. The daughter of the founder of Dick’s Sporting Goods Stores, she helped establish the family business and had her own children’s clothing and toy store.
A graduate of Shippenburg University, Babinec drew on his experience as a civilian human resource manager for the U.S. Navy to establish TriNet, a cloud based human resources Company serving 10,000 small and mid-sized businesses. Returned home from Silicon Valley to raise a family, he promoted job creation through investing in and assisting Upstate start-ups.
The candidates will offer brief opening and closing statements. They will debate about eight issues chosen from 15 that will be debated and voted on in the next Congress. After 9 p.m., they are available to meet and talk informally with voters. Their literature and other campaign items will be available for distribution.