Alice Kryzan

We just now received this statement from Alice Kryzan:

“I am honored that the Democrats of this District have chosen me to represent them in the upcoming general election to be their next representative in Congress. From day one this campaign has been about you and the serious issues facing the 26th District and the country. Today, you sent a clear message: You want an independent voice in Washington, one that will focus on the issues, one that will put you before the Washington special interests and tired old-establishment politics.

As we look towards November, I am excited by the promise in our District. We have so many wonderful assets in our community, the most important being our hardworking men and women who have persevered through good times and bad, never losing sight of the core values we share.

As I’ve said many times in the past, I pledge that as your Congresswoman, every morning I will look at my schedule and ask, “Is what I’m doing today going to benefit the people of the 26th District?” If the answer is no, then it’s coming off my agenda. I look forward to ensuring in November that the men and women of this District finally have a representative they can be proud of.”

Alice also congratulated her opponents, Jon Powers and Jack Davis on a hard fought race and is looking forward to working with them to ensure this District has the representation it deserves.

Alice Kryzan is an environmental attorney and lifelong Democrat who has lived and worked in Amherst for more than 30 years. She has been in the forefront of change for her entire career, becoming the first woman partner at what was then Buffalo’s largest law firm. She is a long-time community volunteer who has been involved in environmental, energy and women’s issues. She currently lives with her husband of thirty-five years, Bob Berger. They have one son Sam, who is a law student.

This is the third post in our series about the two heated Democrat primary battles that will be decided at the polls Tuesday. Read our earlier post for the full details.

In anticipation of these races, we sent out the same question to all six candidates and asked each to please respond by the end of the day today. We've heard from three so far. We'll publish those and add the others as they come in. We asked the candidates a pretty open-ended two-part question: What are your final thoughts heading into the primary? What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

We will publish each one in the order that we received it.

Third is Alice Kryzan, candidate for the 26th Congressional District. Kryzan had this to say:

At the end of the day, I think the question for the voters is: who has the experience, the passion, and the judgment to address the serious issues facing the people of New York’s 26th District. I am the same candidate I was when I entered this race; with the same record, the same values and the same commitment to serve the working families of Western New York. I have been forthright and consistent about what I have done, who I am and where I stand on the issues. If the people of New York 26 send me to represent them in Washington, I will wake up every morning and ask myself one question: Is what I’m doing today going to help the working men and women of Western New York?  And if the answer is “no” it won’t be a priority of mine.

Our next post will be from Joe Mesi, candidate for the 61st Senate District.

Public radio station WBFO has posted interviews with Jack Davis and Alice Kryzan.  Check the site tomorrow for Jon Powers (hat tip 26th District Congressional Blog).

Here's the audio from today's 26th Congressional Debate between Alice Kryzan and Jon Powers.

I haven't had time yet to listen to it. If anybody wants to write up a report of it, that would be great.

As for Jack Davis not participating -- his reported demands that his opponents sign various pledges before he'll debate them is down right anti-democratic (and I mean that with a small "d").

If you run for office, you don't get to dictate what issues your opponent will support, what ethics (or not) they will follow, what sort of campaign they will run. To expect otherwise is just basically anti-American.  Either Jack Davis wants to be a lawfully elected representative, or he wants to be a dictator. To dodge debates under the pretense of lecturing other candidates is unconscionable.

We need representatives who will speak up for what they believe without fear or favor. We need representatives who will be transparent about what they believe and why they believe it. We need representatives who will discuss with anybody -- other candidates, media or constituent -- what they believe an why. We should fear those candidates who purposely make themselves inaccessible.

Again, i'm not taking sides here. I'm just saying why Jack Davis was wrong to dodge the debate.

Joyce Miles of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal offers a profile of sorts of Alice Kryzan, Democratic candidate for the 26th Congressional District, and suggest that Kryzan has deeper roots in her party than either of her opponents.

In person, Kryzan’s manner is soft-spoken and elegant, yet down-to-earth and steeped with a sense of mission. She’s proud of her Democratic roots — her dad was a mayor of their hometown, Youngstown, Ohio, and was among the first Ohio Democrats to throw in with John F. Kennedy for President in 1960 — and she doesn’t hesitate to point out that her competitors are both former Republicans.

Is being more Democrat-than-thou a virtue in a Republican-leaning district?

As for coverage of her policy statements, it's all about the environment.

She wrote a fairly extensive policy statement linking environmental protection, U.S. energy independence and western New York economic growth opportunities. Among other things, the statement calls for a federal goal of 20 percent renewable-source power generation by 2020; a moratorium on construction of coal-fired power plants; enhanced federal tax credits for renewable energy producers and no new drilling for oil; ramped-up fuel economy standards for vehicles and expanded public transportation; sprawl control and encouragement of “walkable” communities. For western New York, she picks ecotourism and development of “green” industries like biofuels as growth engines.

Kryzan acknowledges the plan is ambitious but she’d argue it’s no more so than President Kennedy’s call to send men to the moon. She figures that got done and so can this.

“All we have to say is say, ‘we’re going to be energy independent in 10 years. We’re going to marshal all of our resources to do it,’” she said. “All we need are leaders who have the courage to do it and people to follow them.”

UPDATE: In other campaign news, the Buffalo News carries an article about Powers neglecting to mention War Kids Relief in his latest campaign literature.

In the campaign’s early days, his charity was mentioned often. But Democratic challengers Jack Davis and Alice Kryzan may have found the Achilles heel.

They’re kicking it at will, and probably will continue to do so until the three-way party primary vote on Sept. 9.

“It was the prominent aspect of his biography when he first started running for Congress,” said Kryzan campaign manager Anne Wadsorth. “And now that some questions have been raised concerning the charity and Jon Powers’ role in it, he has eliminated any reference to it as he talks about his experience.”

Any mention of War Kids Relief on the Jon Powers web site is also hard to find. At least, I couldn't find it without using Google to do a site search.  Ooops, I'm blind.  There's a button on the upper right of the home page. 

While the "soap opera" (the phrase of the week, thanks to Jason Molino) of the Davis/Powers fight has provided many entertaining moments on The Batavian the past few weeks, Buffalo Pundit drags Alice Kryzan into the fray.

From the Buffalo News in 1998, Alice Kryzan spoke on the 20th anniversary of the Love Canal fiasco. (We just this year remembered its 30th anniversary):

Alice Kryzan, an attorney who represented Hooker and Occidental, said Hooker’s waste-disposal policies in 1978 “were entirely legal and well-ahead of the industry standards of the times.”

And, she said, scientific studies have yet to prove a link between chemical exposure of people living in the area and health effects.

 In the more Democrat-than-thou debate, where do you think these three fall?