Gibson Focuses on Education in New Ad

Attempting to capitalize on local parents anger toward common core education standards in public schools, Republican Congressman Chris Gibson's campaign released a new education themed ad Tuesday morning that touted the incumbent's stance of, "Common Sense... Not Common Core."

The ad (included below) features a local mom and Mr. Gibson's wife criticizing the recently implemented standardized testing methods, while touting the Congressman's local ties and opposition to common core in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Gibson's Democratic opponent, Sean Eldridge, has listed on his official website that if elected he would, "strengthen our schools by working to expand early childhood education, make college more affordable, reform high stakes-testing, and ensure that our students are trained for the new economy."

Gibson Questions Bergdahl Release as House Grills Hagel

Members of the House Armed Services Committee, including local Congressman Chris Gibson, grilled U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Wednesday afternoon on the Obama administration's decision to swap five high-ranking Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been in captivity since 2009.

Congressional concerns centered around the administration's transfer of high-ranking enemy officials and strategists to Qatar, where they will be released within the next year, and the violation of federal law that requires Congress to be notified within thirty days of any prisoners release from the controversial military base in Cuba.

In a statement issued Monday morning by Congressman Gibson's staff, the former Army Colonel told the Schoharie News that although we need to bring every American back from captivity, he does not believe, "that we exhausted  all avenues in seeking the safe return of Bowe Bergdahl before entering into this agreement."

Defense Secretary Hagel told lawmakers in his prepared remarks Wednesday, "As the opportunity to obtain Sergeant Bergdahl’s release became clearer, we grew increasingly concerned that any delay, or any leaks, could derail the deal and further endanger Sergeant Bergdahl."

The Bergdahl exchange has attracted significant backlash from Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington, with many sharing our local congressman's concerns that, "this swap could set a dangerous precedent and put more Americans at risk," as there are fears it may encourage future detainment of U.S. personnel for prisoner exchanges.

NY 19 Race Gains National Attention Contrasting Two Candidates

On the sidebar of Real Clear Politics today there is a link to a Politico article about the contentious NY-19 Congressional race between incumbent Chris Gibson (R) and newcomer Sean Eldridge (D). With both candidates likely to win their parties' primaries, the backgrounds of the candidates is coming under close scrutiny.

Gibson, 49, is a decorated veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq. Eldridge, 27, is funding his effort through a private equity firm he founded with money from his husband's profits from co-founding Facebook.

Photo credit: Politico

Politico tracked both candidates down and found different approaches in their styles and substance:

Regarding Eldridge:

Chartock came away without any real sense of the candidate. 

 Eldridge sounded like “what a young person thinks a politician should sound like,” the radio host said in an interview. “He’s right on all the issues, but what I think people are looking for is a person. He’s extremely bright, has all the assets that you need to run. But it’s cookie cutter.”  

 .....

 For a while, Eldridge had his eye on another congressional seat. In 2011, he and Hughes, who had been living together in a SoHo loft, purchased a $5 million estate in Garrison, N.Y, positioning Eldridge to run in the neighboring 18th District. But in November 2012 that district’s Republican congresswoman, Nan Hayworth, lost reelection to a Democrat. So Eldridge looked north to the 19th District, where Gibson had just won a second term.

Regarding Gibson:

On Feb. 24, 2005, during combat in Mosul, Iraq, Gibson suffered shrapnel wounds in his right leg and the right side of his face. A few fragments remain in his leg. In his Washington office, the congressman keeps a piece of the rocket-propelled grenade that hit him.  

Gibson says his modest means helps him identify with voters in the middle-class district. During a daylong car ride through the area’s rural back roads, he said an “empathy factor” would play a prominent role in the race.

National Attention on Gibson Race

The race between incumbent Congressman Chris Gibson and his likely opponent Sean Eldridge is already making waves. National columnist George Will penned a column last month in the Washington Post regarding the two candidates, especially the 27-year old Eldridge.

 An interesting column, Will discusses both candidates and focuses on the challenger:

Eldridge, 27, is married to Chris Hughes, 30, who bought the New Republic magazine — founded 100 years ago this year as a voice of progressivism — with a portion of the fortune he made as co-founder of Facebook. Eldridge, who wants to bring his own progressivism to Congress by beating Gibson, grew up in Ohio, graduated from Brown University, attended but did not graduate from Columbia Law School, founded a venture capital firm and went looking for a receptive congressional district outside New York City. The first one where he and his husband bought a residence turned out to be politically problematic, so they kept that residence and bought another (supplementing their Manhattan apartment) in the 19th District.

Gibson Calls Shutdown "Unacceptable"

Schoharie County's Congressman Chris Gibson slammed the government shutdown, calling it 'unnecessary.' Here he is in an interview with WNYT.

 On his Facebook page he also said that the process was 'unacceptable.'

Where we are now is absolutely unacceptable, and all parties need to come together to get things done.

Gibson with New Ad

EDIT-- Linked wrong video. He'res the latest ad.

NY-19 Race Featured in National Media

The race for the Congressional District NY-19 may still be over a year away, but it has already heated up. Incumbent Chris Gibson (R) has been challenged by the husband of a co-creator of Facebook, Sean Eldridge.

Now the story has reached RealClearPolitics, after Eldridge was profiled by the New York Times several months ago.

Left-- Gibson (R), Right-- Eldridge (D)

Eldridge and his husband are multi-millionaires and have recently purchased a $5 million mansion in the Hudson Valley. He has built up his resume over the last several years, with his run for Congress an open secret:

And as a senior adviser and spokesperson for Freedom to Marry -- a group that led the successful fight to legalize same-sex marriage in New York -- Eldridge cut his teeth in the grassroots style of campaigning needed to succeed in the largely rural district, while earning media experience as a public face of the group.

This does not impress the Gibson camp, which slammed the 27-year old.

“If you look at this race, it’s really going to test the hypothesis of whether or not a congressional seat can be bought,” Gibson spokesperson Stephanie Valle said of Eldridge. “We certainly don’t have the expectation that we’re going to be able to match the millions of dollars that Mr. Eldridge will be able to put in the race, but we’re confident we’ll have the funds necessary to win.”

Gibson, a colonel and graduate of West Point is a veteran of the Gulf War, Kosovo, and the Afghanistan conflicts.

Gibson Votes to Defund Health Care Law

Congressman Chris Gibson took a strong position against the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. He joined the majority of the House of Representatives in the effort, although a similar measure in the Senate appears destined to fail. He wrote in an email to his supporters:

I've been consistent since first retiring from the Army that the Affordable Care Act is not the direction our country should take in terms of health care reform. Although the goals are the right ones: to drive down health care costs and expand access to quality care - this law has not – and will never - live up to those goals.

Gibson Asks for Opinions on Syria

Congressman Chris Gibson has sent out an email asking for his constituents to chime in on the issue of Syria. Gibson opposes action in that country. 

 As you know, the President has asked Congress to authorize military action against Syria. I am strongly opposed to this, and will vote no. It is my judgment, as a 29-year veteran of our Armed Forces, that military intervention would make the situation worse and make us responsible for that conflict. You can read my full statement here: http://bit.ly/19WhEsH.
  

Do you agree with my position? Or do you want the United States to take military action? Click here to take the survey: http://gibson.house.gov/forms/form/default.aspx?ID=2734.

Gibson Opposes Syria Action

The Washington Post has Schoharie County's Congressman, Chris Gibson (R-NY19), opposed to authorizing military strikes in the Syrian civil war. What are your thoughts on the impending vote in Congress to authorize U.S. force and Congressman Gibson's stance?