PAINTED POST, N.Y. – President Trump suggested in an interview with the Wall Street Journal "When you have an area that just isn't working like upper New York state, where people are getting very badly hurt, and then you'll have another area 500 miles away where you can't get people, I'm going to explain, you can leave. It's OK. Don't worry about your house."
Democratic congressional candidate Rick Gallant issued the following response:
“We're not abandoning Upstate New York. It's just not an option. That sort of rhetoric is dangerous and demonstrates just how out of touch with mainstream America our President really is. Instead of tearing down the Southern Tier and Western New York, we’re going to roll up our sleeves and rebuild it. Our congressman's silence on these remarks speaks volumes."
About Rick Gallant
Rick Gallant is running for Congress as a Democrat in New York's 23rd Congressional District. Raised by a family of educators, Rick Gallant has served as a teacher and basketball coach in the Corning-Painted Post School District in New York for the past 17 years. A former assistant college basketball coach and sportswriter, Rick and his wife, Amy, moved to the area two decades ago and ran a small business running whitewater rafting tours.
Rick took on a leadership role in his union, earning the trust of his peers to serve as President of the Corning Teachers’ Association and now represents 150 local unions from Waverly to Westfield on the Board of Directors for New York State United Teachers, where he fights for teachers, teaching assistants, bus drivers and monitors, custodians, and clerical staff.
Rick is running for Congress because the Southern Tier and Southwestern New York have been left behind by Washington. Tom Reed too often puts his own political party or himself ahead of families while Rick will put people first and work to bring jobs and opportunities back to our region. It’s time the people of New York’s 23rd District had someone who has walked in their shoes and hears their concerns.
Rick Gallant is running for Congress as a Democrat in New York's 23rd Congressional District. Raised by a family of educators, Rick Gallant has served as a teacher and basketball coach in the Corning-Painted Post School District in New York for the past 17 years. A former assistant college basketball coach and sportswriter, Rick and his wife, Amy, moved to the area two decades ago and ran a small business running whitewater rafting tours.
Rick took on a leadership role in his union, earning the trust of his peers to serve as President of the Corning Teachers’ Association and now represents 150 local unions from Waverly to Westfield on the Board of Directors for New York State United Teachers, where he fights for teachers, teaching assistants, bus drivers and monitors, custodians, and clerical staff.
Rick is running for Congress because the Southern Tier and Southwestern New York have been left behind by Washington. Tom Reed too often puts his own political party or himself ahead of families while Rick will put people first and work to bring jobs and opportunities back to our region. It’s time the people of New York’s 23rd District had someone who has walked in their shoes and hears their concerns.
