New York's 19th congressional district is undergoing an intense race between incumbent congressmen Chris Gibson and the Democrat Sean Eldridge. Currently the 19th district has seen an above average amount of funding for each candidate, with a national average of about 1.2 million dollars, both Eldridge and Gibson have raised well above the status quo. Between 2013-2014, the current congressmen Chris Gibson has raised about 2.26 million dollars , while his opponent had raised well over 3 million(The Center for Responsive Politics). Fracking is currently an important issue in New York State and currently has an incredibly large lobbying group which both candidates don't support . But why has New York’s 19th congressional district been so opposed to energy funding?
Sean Eldridge was born in Toronto in 1986 and grew up in toledo Ohio, he attended Deep Springs a politically oriented college in California. In his short career Eldridge was able to become one of the Democrats most reliable fundraisers endorsing both Nancy Pelosi minority leader of the house and Governor Anthony Cuomo (NRCC). This current Race isn't Eldridges first either he ran against former Congresswoman Nan Hayworth in New York’s 18th congressional district and loss. He is also what many consider to be a “downstater” or a resident of New York City who has moved north and ran for office in one form or another (Hernandez). Eldridge has always been opposed to fracking in a recent years has strongly advocated the use of renewable energies (Zangala). Along with being married to one of facebook's co founders Chris Hughes, their net worth is estimated around 700 million dollars which is funding a large chunk of their campaign (NRCC).
Opposing Eldridge is the current congressional holder Chris Gibson, a former Iraq war vet, Chris retired in 2010 and shortly after ran and won New York’s 10th congressional seat. Gibson works on the House Armed Services Committee along with The house Agricultural Committee and the Republican policy committee (Chris Gibson). Gibson is seen a a “Liberal Republican” according to the National Journal Gibson ranked as one of the most liberal minded Republicans out there, mostly supporting small non controversial bills such as lyme disease control (Bladd) while believing fracking should only be dealt with on the state level(Zangla) . Gibson was able to raise 819,000 dollars in the second quarter alone which is far higher than his opponent Eldridge (Joseph).
However with both candidates raising large amounts of money, energy lobbyists have been unable to break their resolve when it comes fracking and for good reason. In 2013 a poll from Siena College showed that 45 percent of New Yorkers directly oppose fracking (The huffington post). Chris Gibson has raised well over a million from super packs alone, and has received 92,000 from Elliott investments, this is surprising because Elliot investments supports small business, and holds such a stark lead in terms of funding compared to Gibsons other donors (The Center for Responsible Ethics). His opponent however has also raised nearly as much, but with his own cash according to “The Hill”, Eldridge contributed 300,000 dollars to his own campaign and has had very generous donations made by individuals (Joesph). This is all surprising due the vast amounts of money involved in this elections and the lack of support seen by energy companies. And with such a tight race each candidate has seen the fracking issue as poisonous and taboo, and has thus found other methods of funding.
Work Cited
The Center for Responsive Politics. "New York District 19 Race." Opensecrets. Accessed October 3,
NRCC. "Sean Eldridge for Congress 2014." NRCC. Accessed October 3, 2014. http://www.nrcc.org/
sean-eldridge-for-congress-2014/about/.
Hernandez, Raymond. "Young, Rich and Relocating Yet Again in Hunt for Political Office." New York
Times (New York, NY), July 10, 2013.
Zangla, Ariél. "Gibson, Eldridge square off over environmental issues at SUNY New Paltz forum."
Saratogian. Last modified September 2, 2014. Accessed October 3, 2014.
http://www.saratogian.com/government-and-politics/20141002/
gibson-eldridge-square-off-over-environmental-issues-at-suny-new-paltz-forum.
Chris Gibson. "Biography." Chris Gibson for Congress. Accessed October 3, 2014.
Bland, Scott. "As Most Liberal House Republican, Chris Gibson Says He 'Gets Things Done.'" National
Journal. Last modified February 20, 2013. Accessed October 3, 2014.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/
as-most-liberal-house-republican-chris-gibson-says-he-gets-things-done-20130220.
Joseph, Cameron, Abby Abby Smith, and Alexandra Jaffe. "CAMPAIGN OVERNIGHT: Senate Dems flex
fundraising muscle." The Hill. Last modified July 15, 2014. Accessed October 3, 2014.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/212359-campaign-overnight-senate-dems-flex-fundraising-muscle.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. "Gas Drilling Poll: Fracking Opposition Among New York Voters At An
All-Time High." Huffington Post. Last modified September 30, 2013. Accessed October 3, 2014.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/gas-drilling-poll-fracking-new-york_n_4017035.html.
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