By Don Mathisen
It’s hard to get elected to the United State Senate. But that’s not stopping political novice William Schweitzer from challenging incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic Party nomination.
There are multiple routes to the office in New York. Most candidates, such as Chuck Schumer, Al D’Amato, Jacob Javits, Charles Goodell and Gillibrand all held elective office before going to the Senate.
But there have been exceptions. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James Buckley, Robert Kennedy and Hillary Clinton were elected without previously running for public office.
That’s not to say they didn’t know politics. Moynihan was a counselor to President Richard Nixon, and ambassador to both India and the United Nations. Buckley was a Conservative Party activist. Kennedy was attorney general and President John Kennedy’s closest advisor. And Clinton was an influential first lady.
Gillibrand served one term in the House before being appointed to the Senate after Clinton resigned to become secretary of state. The Democrat is now seeking a third full term.
And that brings us back to 35-year-old Schweitzer, who believes he can win the Democratic nomination and defeat whoever the Republicans nominate.
In a recent interview, Schweitzer told me he was born and raised in Rochester, went to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, is an Army veteran, entrepreneur and father of two young children. He moved to New York City ten years ago and now lives in Battery Park City, a housing complex near the World Trade Center.
“Gillibrand is one of the most ineffective and disconnected senators in the country,” Schweitzer said. “She has an underwhelming legislative history, her wins have been minimal.”
If elected, Schweitzer hopes to expand several areas of the federal government and spend a lot of money doing it. He wants universal Medicare, government funding for abortions and paid family leave for all workers.
The Democrat believes taxpayers should fund all federal, state and local political campaigns. “This is really my biggest issue,” Schweitzer said. “I think that we need to have publicly funded federal races. And I think that we can set up an account that state and local governments can take advantage of.”
He said his plan will end dark money in politics, stop foreign influence in campaigns and root out political corruption.
Critics of taxpayer-financed campaigns call it welfare for politicians. The argument goes — collecting private money is a test of candidates viability. Those who raise money and organize volunteers have credibility. Candidates who are broke are not taken seriously.
Schweitzer wants to increase taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations to pay for the additional spending. Rich people “and corporations are benefiting from lots of government handouts,” Schweitzer said. “Billionaires and millionaires can avoid taxes by parking money anywhere around the world.”
His goal is to reduce wealth disparities by reforming tax laws. “That’s a common sense plan that I think makes a huge dent in fixing the fiscal situation,” Schweitzer said.
He adds, higher taxes will put a dent in the federal government’s annual deficits and the $32 trillion debt.
Schweitzer also wants to use his experience in what he calls “financial technology” to change the way Americans file tax returns. “I’m someone who understands deeply how the banks are processing money, how the government is processing money,” Schweitzer said. “I think the IRS has a lot of opportunities to offer services for the public good, free of charge, like doing away with private tax filing firms.”
His plan is to give the IRS access to taxpayers banking information. The IRS would then use an automated system to process returns. “This is something that people want,” he said.
If successful, Schweitzer will follow in the footsteps of Kennedy, Moynihan, Buckley and Clinton by winning a Senate seat without prior elective office experience — something not so rare in the topsy-turvy world of Empire State politics.