Candidate George Phillips Touts Jack Kemp Ideals, Broad Appeal During Utica Visit
Following his official campaign announcement earlier this month, Republican George Phillips has begun making campaign stops at communities in the 22nd Congressional District. That included Thursday's re-announcement of his third run at Congress inside Utica's Stanley Theatre, as the Broome County native becomes the second Republican to announce their candidacy for the seat held by the retiring Richard Hanna.
Phillips is an American History teacher at Seton Catholic Central, a Jr/Sr high school in Binghamton, and an adjunct professor at SUNY Broome. He was defeated by a slim margin in his bid to unseat longtime 22nd district representative Maurice Hinchey in 2010 in the 'old' 22nd.
After launching a campaign in 2012, he pulled out before the primary, an election that Hanna ultimately won to become the new representative in the newly redistricted 22nd.
''We're going to be unveiling a Jack Kemp-style economic plan for upstate New York. Jack Kemp, the Buffalo Bills football star, spearheaded the Reagan economic revival. We want to unveil the next big plan for America and get this region back on track,'' said Phillips, adding that Kemp, the deceased nine-term representative for Western NY and ex-HUD Secretary, was his mentor early on in his first run for office.
''The quote that I like most about Jack that we're going to take with us on the campaign is: There's no limit to what free men and free women and free markets can accomplish,'' Phillips said.
While the number of Republican and Democratic candidates is expected to grow, Phillips called himself the strongest, most viable candidate from the southern part of the district, adding that possibility there would be multiple candidates from Oneida County 'splitting the vote' was favorable to his campaign.
''I think I'm well positioned to stand for Conservative values, but also make the case to moderates, Independents...and bring over those Reagan Democrats, if I am the candidate,'' he said.
GOP and Conservative-line hopeful Claudia Tenney was the first to jump into the race, announcing before Hanna had made his decision to retire. And, in the final week of 2015, Democrat David Gordon declared he would be running for the seat as well.