Western New York races platform breakdown

In order to prepare you as best we can for the upcoming election, we have included the stances of lesser positions that are up for election next Tuesday.

New York representative in the U.S. Senate

Wendy Long – Republican candidate

·      Stringently anti-abortion “from conception to natural death” and believes Roe v. Wade was a constitutionally flawed legal decision

·      Opposed to gay marriage, saying she believes it should be a union between a man and a woman. She would never attend a same-sex marriage ceremony

·      Believes gas prices are rising because the government is researching alternative energy

·      Believes instead of subsidizing solar panels, the government should build the Keystone Pipeline

·      Believes the Keystone Pipeline delays are because of regulations

·      Lifelong shooter, gun owner and gun rights advocate

·      Believes ObamaCare will damage the New York economy

Junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand – Democratic incumbent

·      Supports abortion rights and even has voted in support of federal abortion funding

·      Voted for stimulus packages and bailouts and economic regulations

·      Voted in favor of the $825 billion economic recover package and the $15 billion dollar bailout of GM and Chrysler

·      Supporter of gay marriage who has voted to prevent job discrimination based on sexual orientation and has opposed the amendment to prevent same sex marriage.

·      Believes giving small businesses access to capital will create jobs

·      Opposes sending job overseas and voted to extend unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks

·      Against the privatization of social security and does not want to raise the retirement age

Representative in U.S. Congress 27th District

Chris Collins – Republican candidate

·      Wants to help small businesses create jobs

·      Created hundreds of jobs during his 30 years as a small businessman

·      Plans to put his experience to practice by creating jobs

·      Wants to lead the fight to enact energy policy that expands drilling and ends regulations that make gas prices unaffordable

·      Will fight to repeal ObamaCare

·      Wants to implement health care reforms that “make sense” like patient choice and tort reform

·      Wants to cut the deficit and reduce spending

·      As an Erie County Executive in 2007, he reduced the county’s debt by more than $120 million and kept spending down

·      Intends to standup to Obama’s “reckless policies” and help get spending under control

Kathy Hochul – Democratic incumbent

·      Has fought to ensure seniors will have health care when they retire

·      Will fight to close the prescription drug “doughnut hole” to save seniors money

·      Is against privatizing Social Security and Medicare

·      Has introduced legislation to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare

·      Proposes balancing the budget while protecting middle class families and asking millionaires and corporations to pay a fair share

·      Wants to close tax loop holes that reward corporations for shipping jobs overseas

·      Believes the government does not create jobs, and businesses do

·      Has introduced plans to help Western New York through targeted investments in infrastructure, energy, education and small business

·      Has worked to create fair tax policies that will encourage companies to grow in the United States

·      Believes party cooperation is necessary and has voted across party lines, including to pass small business tax cuts