Claudia Tenney discusses decision to run in new Southern Tier congressional district
If the new congressional lines in New York hold, U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, will run in the state’s 23rd Congressional District.
While Gov. Kathy Hochul approved the new congressional lines last week, a legal challenge was filed in Steuben County. The Democratic controlled state Legislature drew the state’s redistricting maps after a bipartisan commission failed to reach consensus.
The lawsuit comes with allegations of gerrymandering from Republicans, which Tenney agrees with.
“It’s an attempt by the Democrats to shore up as many of their incumbents and to eliminate as many Republicans as they can in the state and to silence the effective voices of a lot of the members in Congress now,” she said.
New York lost a congressional seat, and the new map could cause Republicans to lose as many as four or five seats in the House delegation.
Tenney’s current residence in Oneida County will be in New York’s 19th Congressional District under the redrawn map, which stretches down to Dutchess County and incumbent U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck.
The updated 23rd, which stretches along the Southern Tier of the state to Erie County, contains parts of four counties included in Tenney’s current district: Broome, Chenango, Cortland and Tioga.
It’s also home to many of Tenney’s family members and an area she spent time traveling in as a sales rep for her family business and showing horses when she was younger.
“The district is very similar,” she said. “It’s an agricultural-based district. A lot of deindustrialization has occurred there.”
If the lines hold and Tenney wins the election, she said she’ll move into the district. Representatives aren’t required to live in their district but must be residents of the state.
“I will definitely rent or buy a home there,” she said.
Tenney said she’s really excited about the opportunity to represent the Southern Tier and the district that touches as many as 14 counties.
“I’m going to bring the same compassion advocacy that I have now to a district that looks very similar to the one that we have now, just a little bit different location and quite long,” she said.
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Supporters in the Mohawk Valley have reached out to say they’re disappointed she’s heading to a different district, Tenney said.
“So, I say to them, I’m an advocate for what we stand for and our values,” she said. “So I’m going to continue to be an advocate, and although a lot of people were very disappointed I’m not going to be representing them, a number of them said they’re still going to support me, and they know I have a national voice.”
Tenney accused Democrats of no interest in bipartisanship or making the congressional district line competitive. She said the map favors incumbent Democrats and hurts Republican incumbents.
“I think this is just really cynical of the Democrats and they’re calculating,” she said. “They want to eliminate Republicans, and I’ve been encouraged to continue to fight the fight I’ve been involved in.”
The Observer-Dispatch interviews U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, the first week of each month about current issues related to the Mohawk Valley and federal government.
Steve Howe is the city reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email him at showe@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Claudia Tenney talks decision to run in new Southern Tier district
