For those of you who are unfamiliar, John Sweeney is the Republican representative who captured the 20th Congressional District seat after the retirement of his long-entrenced predecessor, Gerald B.H. Solomon (R) in 1998. Although Sweeney had initially pledged to be a "moderate," he has let us down time in and time again by becoming a staunch supporter of right-wing positions, such as support for free trade, opposition to reproductive freedoms, and being a staunch supporter of Bush initiatives such as social security privatization and the war in Iraq. Worst of all, some say his biggest accomplishment during his eight year tenure has been working to stall the cleanup of PCBs contaminating the Hudson after taking thousands and thousands of dollars from GE PACs and GE-affiliated lobbyists.

Fortunately, this year we have the opportunity to bring about change and alter the status quo here in Upstate New York. Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is an excellent candidate and is Sweeney's first formidable opponent in eight years. Unlike Sweeney, Gillibrand is a staunch supporter of progressive principles, such as support of reproductive rights, preservation of social security, a timetable for withdrawl of Iraqi troops, and very importantly, she favors increased environmental protections and will finally make GE pay for the crimes they committed to the Hudson River. Gillibrand is very much a Democrat in the mold of Eliot Spitzer, pledging to serve the needs of Main Street over the needs of Wall Street. The type of representation Gillibrand has pledged to offer us is what we need and deserve here in Upstate after eight years of John Sweeney and twenty years of Gerald Solomon.

This is a district which has traditionally been a Republican stronghold going back to the Civil War era when the Democrats were the party of the Old South and the Republicans were the Party of Lincoln. However, as the Republican Party in recent years has morphed into the new party of the Confederacy, as well the party of religious extremists, many of these traditional "Lincoln Republicans" or "Rockefeller Republicans" have been increasingly voting for Democrats. Charles Schumer and Eliot Spitzer both have won the district with about 60% of the vote, and the Democrats took control of the local government in the City of Saratoga Springs last year, in what was traditonally a bastion of Republicanism in local elections. George W. Bush also received a measley 53% in the district, which pales in comparison to the nearly 65% margins Republican presidential candidates, such as Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan received here in the 1970s and 1980s. The registration of the district is also trending towards the Democrats as the Democratic Party has gained 9,443 new registrants since 2002, while the GOP has only gained 763 new members. In fact, in Columbia and Dutchess Counties, at the southern portion of the district, Republican and Democratic enrollment is now nearly at parity, and if registration trends continue at the current rates, registered Democrats will outnumber registered Republicans in those two counties within five years.

And if anybody has doubts about this district being hospitable to Democrats, you have to keep in mind that we're virtually surrounded by other districts which were once Republican strongholds that have shifter to Democratic/progressive control over the past two decades. Bernie Sanders in Vermont and John Olver in Western Massachusetts are both the first non-Republican to their areas in the House since the Civil War. Maurice Hinchey, who borders us to the southwest is the first Democrat to represent his district since the early 1900s. All in all, we are not that much different than our neighbors, and we need to help bring about the Democratic realignment that has touched other districts here in the Northeast here to New York's 20th.

Please help us out here in the 20th District and add Kirsten Gillibrand to the Netroots Challengers page!