Press release
CORNING—The Tracy Mitrano for Congress campaign has issued a cease and desist order to incumbent Tom Reed, demanding that he stop showing a video advertisement that falsely accuses Mitrano of wanting to defund the police. The 30-second ad, shown on local stations as part of Reed’s media buy, mixes images of violence with quotes attributed to Mitrano.
“It’s a lie,” Mitrano said flatly, at a news conference in Corning today. She forcefully stated her true position on law enforcement and called the Reed ad a deflection from his thin record of achievement in Congress.
“I support law enforcement unequivocally. I always have,” Mitrano said, citing her family’s tradition of service in the military and police. The list includes two stepsons who are sheriff’s deputies in the 23rd district and a cousin with the New York City Police Department. “I am for funding law enforcement to be sure they can accomplish their mission of serving and protecting the public,” she said.
Police responding to a call are often faced with domestic violence, mental illness, neglect and other matters that should be handled by social workers with specialized training, said Mitrano. “I am for law enforcement being put in a reasonable position. I want to make sure that my stepsons are safe when they go to someone’s house, and that there are supports around them to be sure they are not asked to do a job for which they have not been trained.”
In the October 7 cease and desist letter, the Mitrano campaign demanded that Reed’s campaign immediately stop placing “defamatory, deceptive, misleading, and patently false advertisements” on television, social media or other Internet platforms.
“Tom Reed, like Donald Trump, runs campaigns on lies,” said Mitrano. “Why? To fear-monger. To cause anxiety. To deflect from his record as a congressman. He has failed us in Congress. He has not done his job. Name the issue: healthcare, education, Social Security, Medicare, infrastructure. Ten years. What has Tom Reed done for us? He doesn’t want to talk about that.”
Frightening voters with lies about law enforcement is not just dishonest, said Mitrano. It’s also disrespectful.
“He’s using law enforcement as a hook to create fear mongering and anxiety,” she said. “I don’t want him doing that to my stepsons or anybody else. We should be proud of law enforcement that is in service to people and looking to fix problems where they exist. We should not be fomenting discord and divide, creating zero-sum games between law enforcement and communities. It’s not either/or. It should be both!”
It’s also disrespectful of the democratic process, Mitrano said. Voters want and deserve to hear real political debates: “not fear-mongering based on lies.” She urged district voters to turn away from negative ads and raise their expectations for those seeking to represent them.
“You can expect respect for law enforcement, not using them,” she said. “You can expect honest discourse not lies. You can expect to have conversation and debate, not an approach that is designed to scare and deflect. Embrace what democracy is all about: good, honest and fair discourse on the issues that matter to you the most.”
