Libertarian chairman to run for 20th District seat
By NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff WriterA third candidate will run to fill Kirsten Gillibrand's former congressional seat - if he can amass 3,500 signatures within 12 days of the special election being called.
Eric Sundwall, of Columbia County, chairman of the Libertarian Party of New York, announced Tuesday that he will seek the seat Gillibrand vacated when Gov. David Paterson appointed her to the U.S. Senate in January.
Sundwall is an information technology consultant who lives in Niverville in Columbia County with his wife and two children. He produces and hosts the cable-access television program "Capital Outsider."
His father, John, served on the Kinderhook Town Board and was chairman of the Columbia County Conservative Party.
The Republicans have nominated Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco of Glenville for the seat, and the Democrats have chosen Glens Falls venture capitalist Scott Murphy.
In a prepared statement, Sundwall said he is running because "the people of the 20th District are tired of the machine politics of a smoke-filled room."
Sundwall attempted to run for the seat in 2006 but was denied when his petition was challenged and the state Board of Elections ruled he was 690 signatures short of the required 3,500.
New York's 20th Congressional District stretches from the outskirts of Poughkeepsie to Saranac Lake and includes much of Essex County, including the towns of North Elba and Keene. It is a traditionally Republican district, with 70,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, but Gillibrand, a Democrat, won two elections against different Republicans.
Paterson has not yet called for a special election to fill the vacancy. Legally he has until July 2010, but he has said he will call it "soon." After calling for the special election, he will set a date between 30 and 40 days from then.
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Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26 or nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
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AntiLib
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02-11-09 11:18 AM
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How did Gillibrand vote on the stimulus package in her first real vote in the senate? She voted with the 61 other leftists.Some moderate eh? Where was the Enterprise in publishing something on her vote for universal welfare? Conveniently complacent and absent.
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