PLATTRSBURGH — Democratic congressional candidate Blake Gendebien said that, if elected, he expects to join the Congressional Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of House Democrats which has a history of achieving bipartisan collaboration on fiscal and defense legislation.
“Honestly, that is where I fit,” said Gendeiben, a farmer from Lisbon in St. Lawrence County, in a half-hour telephone interview last Thursday.
“I have been in conversations with the Blue Dog Coalition, and that seems to be a good fit.”
County Democratic chairs on Feb. 4 announced they had selected Gendebien for the party’s nomination in the upcoming special election for the seat that will become vacant when U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville) resigns to become Ambassador to the United Nations.
The election, which now appears likely to be held sometime in May, will not be scheduled until Stefanik resigns.
Unlike a regular election, there is no primary for a special election.
County chairs select the nominee.
Republican chairs had not yet announced their nominee, as of Tuesday.
BLUE DOG HISTORY
The Blue Dog Coalition was established after the 1994 mid-term elections, in which the Republican party won a net gain of 54 seats.
“So, there was an effort by fiscally-responsible and moderate Democrats to form a voting bloc representing what they viewed as the middle of the partisan spectrum and one that would serve as fierce advocates for fiscal responsibility,” the coalition states on its website.
“Their goals were to hold both parties accountable to promises of fiscal restraint and, by working with both parties, to stop legislation from going too far right or too far left.”
Former Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Greenport) and Scott Murphy (D-Glens Falls), who represented much of the current 21st District in 2007-2010, were members of the coalition, which currently has 10 members, down from about 50 members in 2009.
On Tuesday, the coalition issued a news release calling for bipartisan negotiations over “common sense” tax reform, instead of blanket extension of the so-called Trump tax cuts, which the coalition said would increase the national deficit.
AFFORDABILITY FOCUS
Gendebien said his campaign will focus on the cost of living.
“The biggest issue in this race is affordability,” he said.
About 50% of voters in the 15-county district are senior citizens, he said.
Gendedien said maintaining international trade is essential to affordability.
Increasing tariffs raises prices farmers pay for energy and feed, which, in turn, increases prices for groceries, and reduces opportunities for farmers to export their products.
Gendebien said he opposes “retaliatory tariffs,” predominant in President Trump’s policy, and, instead policy should focus on bilateral free-trade agreements.
“Artificially-high tariffs are not good,” he said.
2013 REMARKS
New York Republican Chairman Edward Cox and others have criticized Genebien over remarks he made in a 2013 North Country Public Radio interview about farm labor.
In the interview, Gendebien said that he hired Hispanic workers because local workers often have drinking problems and child support collection issues.
In the 2013 interview, he also said that correction officers “don’t have much self-worth.”
Gendebien on Thursday said the remarks do not reflect his mindset, and that the Republican criticism of something he said years ago is emblematic of the caustic nature of politics.
“They’ve taken statements out of context and launched … attacks,” he said.
IMMIGRATION STANCE
Gendebien, in the interview on Thursday, took a moderate stance on immigration, calling for more foreign workers to be granted visas to work in industries with labor shortages, while supporting deporting undocumented immigrants which have criminal convictions.
Gendebien said, if elected, one of his legislative priorities would be establishing a federal mental health program for farmers.
He said farmers need an option to receive specialized, confidential counseling about the pressures of economic and weather patterns.
“No farmer wants to be that generation that loses the farm,” he said.
Warren County Republican Chairman Tim McNulty has said that at least a dozen potential candidates are seeking the Republican nomination.
Republicans said to be seeking the nomination include: state Sen. Dan Stec (R-Queensbury; Matt Doheny, a businessman from Watertown; Anthony Constantino, a business man from Amsterdam; former Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-Catskill), who lost reelection in the 19th District in November; state Assemblyman Chris Tague (R-Schoharie); Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R-Johnstown; Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, (R-Ballston); Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin; Liz Lemery Joy, a conservative writer and speaker from Schenectady who was the Republican candidate in the 20th Congressional District in 2020 and 2022; David Forsythe, chairman of the St. Lawrence County Legislature; Joseph Rutkowski, a businessman from Rome; and Allen Caruso, a small business owner from Greenfield.