Why I’m Suspending This Campaign

Our campaign began nearly a year ago with a simple premise: we must engage those left behind.

And that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve registered new voters and re-energized others. We’ve made this a campaign that deliberately includes rural, black, brown, native, and older Americans. We have established a bold, progressive platform for Central New York.

I am extremely proud of the team that made this happen — from staff and volunteers to friends and family, in all four counties of NY-24.

Last month, in Red Creek, I said that this campaign is about doing the right thing. I thought, at the time, that this meant continuing our campaign.

Today, however, it is time for me to do what’s right. And that is why I am suspending our campaign for Congress, effective immediately.

Campaigning is an emotional journey. So is parenting. So is marriage. And so is transitioning from active duty in the military.

I have attempted to balance all of these journeys over the past year. Three months into the campaign, my wife and I welcomed a new baby into our lives. Candidates who are parents often joke that “campaign widows” and “campaign orphans” are an inherent part of the political process, but that is a choice — and it is not an easy one.

I have struggled with weight gain and am not proud of my outward appearance since leaving active duty. I often joke that “dad bod” and “campaign bod” haven’t mixed well, but as a former marathon runner, I am not happy with the example I am setting by failing to prioritize physical fitness.

I have been frustrated by my transition from active duty in the military to the civilian world. Like many veterans, I struggle to find the time, resources, and courage to access mental healthcare. It is difficult to put into words the things you feel after hanging up the uniform, but I feel them daily, and experience the guilt of living comfortably in Syracuse while my friends and former comrades-in-arms deploy into harm’s way around the world.

It is time for me to find a better balance that respects all of these journeys — one that is worthy of the voters of this district and the progressive movement we began last year.

To all those who believed in this campaign — those who knocked a door, picked up a phone, donated a dollar — I remain as humbled by you and as grateful to you as I was on Day One. Thank you so much for being a part of our positive, issue-focused movement for change in Central New York. Our campaign welcomed many endorsements and volunteers, both within the party and from political newcomers. My sincerest hope is that the party and my fellow candidates welcome our supporters with open arms. It’s going to take all of us to win in November.

Although our operation is ending, the fight for a more just and equitable Central New York will continue. This fight must continue, for our neighbors and friends — all of us — who have been continually left behind. It’s about demanding policies that benefit working people, not giant corporations. It’s about changing what it means to be a child born in Central New York — from improving early childhood education, to disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, to ending, once and for all, the idea that you need to leave CNY to be successful in life. It’s about changing what it means to raise a family here — from the struggle of cobbling together childcare, just so you can make it to work to afford that childcare, to the feeling of helplessness as you try to protect your kids from gun violence and opioids. And above all, it’s about changing the fact that while we work and work and work to get ahead, somebody else with more money and more leverage is always going to beat us out.

The deck is stacked against working families both in Central New York and around the country. That’s why I stepped up to run for Congress. And we can never suspend the fight against that inequity — ever.

But, as I have experienced over the past year, the deck is also stacked against working-class candidates, and all those of lesser means, for whom political connections are not a birthright. There is a reality of campaign life that candidates don’t talk much about. Our political system is organized not around policy competence or integrity, but rather one, unfortunate proxy: money.

How much campaign cash you can raise is your worth as a candidate, and that shuts out working-class people far too often. Our representation in government suffers because of it.

Beyond money, political access is also a barrier to prospective candidates. Participation in party committees from the local to the national level is a privilege, and not one readily accessible to all people. Until there is more transparency and democracy in our party infrastructure, these groups will be more about “who you know” than ensuring equitable representation.

So there remains a lot more work to be done.

I am forever committed to the principles, policies, and passion that defined this campaign. And, as we move forward together, make no mistake: I will be working to make them real.

I will be working to make it easier for veterans to access the political process, entrepreneurship, and to secure their hard-earned benefits.

I will be working to grow our local economy and hold corporations accountable by leading a national movement to update antitrust law and enforcement in this country for the first time in 106 years.

I will be working to ensure that our farmers and rural neighbors get a fair shake, so that government policy recognizes both their concerns and their right to exist.

I will be working to abolish racism and sexism from every square inch of our democratic institutions and every single line of government policy and legislation.

I will be working to make sure that all of our kids — regardless of zip code — have access to equitable educational opportunities, after-school programs, and hope for the future.

I will be working hard to advance the cause of our proud unions, to expand collective bargaining, and to protect worker safety at all levels.

So many across Central New York are already doing this work. I am here to support you, to back you up, to lead where you need me, and above all to get the work done, side-by-side, with you.

As for what’s next for me: I’m going to find a fall marathon to run, read books to my two kids, enjoy this fifth year of marriage with my incredible wife, Christy, and take charge of my own health again. I’m going to help get my friends John Mannion elected to the State Senate and Scott Comegys elected to the State Assembly. I’m going to support my friends running for Congress across the country this year, especially those who were helpful to me in this process: Amy McGrath, Sri Kulkarni, Dan Feehan, Audrey Denny, JD Scholten, Kim Olson, Andy Kim, and Asha Castleberry-Hernandez.

One last thing: to all of the rural kids out there who won’t see someone like them on the ballot this year, I hope that the lesson you learn from this campaign will not be that it ended, but rather that by being bold and showing up, we are making a difference.

And we are only just beginning!

Thank you all.