FDR Banquet

For local Democrats, what could be nicer than the pleasure of fine company, common purpose, good food, inspiring candidates and solidarity of cause? This made for a marvelous time at the Schoharie County Democratic Committee’s (SCDC) annual FDR banquet at Chieftan’s Restaurant & Bar in Cobleskill on June 30. Aside from raising funds for continuing the work of the SCDC, a strong sense of community emerged among the almost one hundred attendees, representing the 16 towns and 6 villages that make up Schoharie County. 

 Welcomed by SCDC Chairperson Theresa Heary, we heard a quick report of how much this community has been able to accomplish in recent times. So many signatures have been collected, so many doors opened, and new energy brought to bear on issues of equality, fairness and democracy’s future in these difficult times. Drawn together in support of democracy from the ground up, conversations at the tables ranged widely from food, family and local events, to the recent Supreme Court decisions, world events, hopes for the future of Ukraine and the nuts and bolts of the upcoming primary on August 23. Bread was broken and good times shared among longtime members of the community and newcomers.

Matt Castelli, a strong Democratic candidate running for the Congressional seat in District 21, which now includes all of Schoharie County, hopes to unseat Elise Stefanik. He joined the party for over half an hour via ZOOM, complimenting Schoharie Democrats for their actions on behalf of his predecessor, Antonio Delgado, and in support of getting himself on the primary ballot as a Democrat and on the November ballot on a new independent Moderate Party line. He described his family’s deep background of community service, his own career in the CIA and in counterterrorism at the National Security Council and in non-profit work promoting health service access for veterans and rural folk. What pushed him to run for political office? His sworn oath to defend the Constitution and the United States was invoked and activated by the attack on the U.S. Capitol during the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2021.

Answering audience questions, Candidate Castelli reiterated that one could open a conversation with a potential voter by stating that the people of District 21 need a representative who actually represents their interests. The current representative, Ms. Stefanik, has voted against programs and services that directly benefit the people in this huge rural district of 15 counties. He urged people to talk to their neighbors and to get involved, emphasizing our shared concerns for good jobs, lower energy costs, health care access, public safety, broadband and support for farms, small businesses, veterans’ services, and strong relations with our allies abroad and security safeguards here at home.

On August 23rd, Democrats in Schoharie County are in the unique position of voting in both a special election to put Pat Ryan in Delgado’s vacant seat until December for District 19 AND a primary to select the Democrat who will run against Stefanik for the seat as of January 2023 in the 21st District.  

Two additional candidates spoke at the Banquet, inspiring us to think locally and get out the vote. A substitute teacher in the public schools, Nicholas Chase, running for State Assembly, touched us all with his account of responding to a fourth grade student’s question as to whether he would stand in front of them if they were threatened at school by a shooter. Making it clear that this was way out of the norm for what people expect of educators, he urged for voter turnout and public participation in the upcoming election to enable our state government to put gun safety back in place after the SCOTUS decision that subordinated our state’s long standing law.

Eric Ball, running for the State’s 51st District in opposition to first term Oberacker, evoked the namesake of our gathering, FDR, a political hero of his, who put the good of his constituents at the top of his priorities.

Kudos to the Fundraising Committee, especially to Co-chair Joe Bozicevich. Joe made my day and ended the evening with a note of urgency when he recited these lines of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to me, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.“