Barber Aims to Cut Off Seward’s Time in Senate
Caroline town supervisor becomes Democrats’ surprise top second-tier candidate
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:11:00
Caroline Town Supervisor Don Barber’s (D) challenge to State Sen. Jim Seward (R-Oneonta) is turning into the sleeper race of this year’s cycle.
Seward’s first serious opponent in 12 years, Barber is gaining attention statewide with his aggressive challenge in a district previously not on anyone’s radar screen.
Barber said he started planning the race two years ago after seeing his children leaving the state for jobs, and watching friends go looking for lower taxes in other states.
He has centered his campaign in calling for new ways to address health care, economic development and energy. While concentrating on policy and attacking what he calls Seward’s inaction in 22 years as a senator, Barber has also taken up the Senate Democrats’ pet issue of legislative reform.
Barber has been taking aim at Seward’s role as Insurance Committee chair, noting that health care costs have continued to rise under Seward’s watch. He said that Seward has sided too often with the insurance industry in policy decisions and has not addressed costs.
In contrast, Barber cites his own record of creating a Tompkins County-wide municipal employees’ health insurance consortium aimed at reducing costs for local governments.
“It will bring all of our municipal employees the chance to be together under one plan,” he said.
Also calling on his town record, Barber is putting himself forward as an advocate of alternative energy. Barber said that he negotiated a plan to obtain his town’s entire energy supply via wind power, making Caroline the second town in the state to do so.
Seward’s district is a sprawling behemoth of central New York, covering seven counties, from the Hudson River in the east, to the Ithaca suburbs in the west and north to include all of Herkimer County. A predominantly Republican swath, Barber is banking on Sen. Darrel Aubertine’s (D-Oswego/Jefferson/St. Lawrence) special election win earlier this year in the neighboring North Country district as reason to hope for victory. Republicans outnumber Democrats by just under 26,000 voters in the district, with almost 40,000 unaffiliated voters.
The district is so large that Barber’s seven-county announcement tour took him 14 hours to complete. He blames the size and unusual shape on gerrymandering to protect Seward, something he wants to address in the Senate. He is proposing a nonpartisan system to redraw district lines every decade.
Senate Democratic insiders have been impressed with Barber’s candidacy. They have described him as the top second-tier Senate candidate in the state.
That buzz has helped him raise roughly $150,000 from 1,350 donors Upstate. He, will make his first Downstate fundraising foray in June at a fundraiser featuring Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) and most of the city’s Democratic Senate delegation.
The Manhattan fundraiser recently raised headlines when First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson used state letterhead to invite guests.
Barber said he understands his place in the party hierarchy of candidates.
“There has not been an all out ‘you’re our main man, Don,’ but they talk to us once a week,” he said of Smith’s office.
Barber is now aiming to raise his profile after the fundraiser and to build on the seven-county network he put in place. He notes he has been using blogs and local newspaper letters to the editor to raise his profile throughout the district.
Through a spokesman, Seward declined to comment on Barber’s campaign. His spokesman, in comments similar to other Republican senators, said Seward has not announced a re-election campaign yet and is not focusing on politics until after the session ends at the end of the month.
Seward is popular in the district, and has $379,127 in his campaign account.
And despite his spokesman’s claim that Seward has yet to make a decision on entering this year’s race, there is contrary evidence: Barber was greeted by pro-Seward demonstrators when he visited Oneonta during his announcement tour.
Seward’s first serious opponent in 12 years, Barber is gaining attention statewide with his aggressive challenge in a district previously not on anyone’s radar screen.
Barber said he started planning the race two years ago after seeing his children leaving the state for jobs, and watching friends go looking for lower taxes in other states.
He has centered his campaign in calling for new ways to address health care, economic development and energy. While concentrating on policy and attacking what he calls Seward’s inaction in 22 years as a senator, Barber has also taken up the Senate Democrats’ pet issue of legislative reform.
Barber has been taking aim at Seward’s role as Insurance Committee chair, noting that health care costs have continued to rise under Seward’s watch. He said that Seward has sided too often with the insurance industry in policy decisions and has not addressed costs.
In contrast, Barber cites his own record of creating a Tompkins County-wide municipal employees’ health insurance consortium aimed at reducing costs for local governments.
“It will bring all of our municipal employees the chance to be together under one plan,” he said.
Also calling on his town record, Barber is putting himself forward as an advocate of alternative energy. Barber said that he negotiated a plan to obtain his town’s entire energy supply via wind power, making Caroline the second town in the state to do so.
Seward’s district is a sprawling behemoth of central New York, covering seven counties, from the Hudson River in the east, to the Ithaca suburbs in the west and north to include all of Herkimer County. A predominantly Republican swath, Barber is banking on Sen. Darrel Aubertine’s (D-Oswego/Jefferson/St. Lawrence) special election win earlier this year in the neighboring North Country district as reason to hope for victory. Republicans outnumber Democrats by just under 26,000 voters in the district, with almost 40,000 unaffiliated voters.
The district is so large that Barber’s seven-county announcement tour took him 14 hours to complete. He blames the size and unusual shape on gerrymandering to protect Seward, something he wants to address in the Senate. He is proposing a nonpartisan system to redraw district lines every decade.
Senate Democratic insiders have been impressed with Barber’s candidacy. They have described him as the top second-tier Senate candidate in the state.
That buzz has helped him raise roughly $150,000 from 1,350 donors Upstate. He, will make his first Downstate fundraising foray in June at a fundraiser featuring Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) and most of the city’s Democratic Senate delegation.
The Manhattan fundraiser recently raised headlines when First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson used state letterhead to invite guests.
Barber said he understands his place in the party hierarchy of candidates.
“There has not been an all out ‘you’re our main man, Don,’ but they talk to us once a week,” he said of Smith’s office.
Barber is now aiming to raise his profile after the fundraiser and to build on the seven-county network he put in place. He notes he has been using blogs and local newspaper letters to the editor to raise his profile throughout the district.
Through a spokesman, Seward declined to comment on Barber’s campaign. His spokesman, in comments similar to other Republican senators, said Seward has not announced a re-election campaign yet and is not focusing on politics until after the session ends at the end of the month.
Seward is popular in the district, and has $379,127 in his campaign account.
And despite his spokesman’s claim that Seward has yet to make a decision on entering this year’s race, there is contrary evidence: Barber was greeted by pro-Seward demonstrators when he visited Oneonta during his announcement tour.
