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Saranac Laker, TV host considers run for Congress

Dylan Ratigan (Photo provided)

SARANAC LAKE — Former MSNBC pundit, businessman, Saranac Lake native and Lake Placid resident Dylan Ratigan is considering a run for Congress as the 10th Democratic candidate in New York’s 21st Congressional District. He said he expects to announce his decision by the end of the weekend.

Ratigan, who has been a vocal commentator on economics, Wall Street and politics for MSNBC’s “The Dylan Ratigan Show,” Bloomberg News and The Young Turks, said he will run if he is able to clear his candidacy with three stakeholders: the 12 district commissioners, his family and the business he has been involved with for five years.

He said he wants to form cordial relationships with the commissioners, ensure that his family is comfortable with his decision to seek public office and allow the company he said he has put his life saving into, Helical Holdings, to continue on its path unaffected by his campaign.

Helical Holdings employs veterans to run and install farms with solar-powered hydroponic equipment, and Ratigan wants confirmation that the company, which he started with several oil executives in Louisiana, will be able to continue.

He said he has lived in Lake Placid for the last five years or so, in a house he owns. His website bio says, “He’s now a nomadic road warrior constantly traveling around the country, primarily residing in New York City, Louisiana, California and Chicago.” He got married in December 2016.

Ratigan’s platform, if he runs, would likely center on money’s influence in politics, treatment of veterans, decriminalizing drugs and supporting what he calls “healthy capitalism,” based on his website bio and social media postings in recent months.

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