Democratic Party

Press Release:

A year ago today, the world watched in horror as the US Capital came under attack in an attempt to block the peaceful transfer of power. We watched as police officers were beaten and vandals’ broke windows and shimmed up scaffolding. The world gasped as the bangs on the House chamber doors grew louder and more intense and brave Capitol Police stood guard. Our government representatives hid under desks and donned chemical masks. Others, reaching back to their military training, helped their
colleagues navigate to the tunnels which would, hopefully, provide them safety. In the twelve months since we all watched an American Coup unfold during primetime, very little has been done to punish those who participated in launching this attack or implementing policies to prevent it from happening again. 

When the dust settled, New York Representatives Chris Jacobs, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, and Lee Zeldin betrayed their oath to the Constitution by refusing to certify legitimate electoral votes. New Yorkers still remember this.

Today, the Genesee County Democratic Party thanks the brave individuals who serve and protect our nation from threats, both foreign and domestic. We honor those who uphold their oath to the constitution and have the courage to speak up when needed. We hope that you join us in this day of remembrace for those we lost during the terrorist attack and implore the House Sedition Caucus to follow the example of Congressman Rice of South Carolina, who admitted that there was no reason to not certify the 2020 election and expressed
regret for his vote.

It seems only fitting that we are celebrating this historic inauguration the day after Martin Luther King Day.  The barriers that were lifted by many hands, including the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, and all of the people who stepped forward and stood up, helped pave the way for President Barack Obama's momentous and historic swearing in as our 44th President today.  Only because of the unrelenting determination and unceasing struggle for the causes of human dignity and fairness during the tumultuous years since the beginning of the Civil Rights movement are we able to appreciate in President Obama that unique pragmatic quality of a true uniter, a quality that can reach past any divisions of black, white or any of the other shades that make up the tapestry that is America.  We are witnessing in President Obama a leader who will not only reach across the boundaries of race, but also extend a hand across the political divide with a genuine intellectual curiosity to understand all sides of the very complex and daunting issues that confront all Americans in the difficult days ahead. 

It is with great pride that I speak for Genesee County Democrats to declare that while we are  extraordinarily proud to celebrate this memorable day as a political organization, today is not about any one political party. As President Obama said in his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention;  "There is no red America and no blue America. There is only the United States of America".  Today is a wonderful day to drop all the color barriers -  black, white, red and blue - that divide us and celebrate what makes America great – the smooth, peaceful and celebratory transition of power and share in the hope that all of us have for a better tomorrow. 

Yes we can. And yes, we will.

After Alice Kryzan's primary victory on Tuesday, I went over to see what Mike Wrona had to say. After all, Wrona is a vocal Kryzan supporter and has criticized me for my support of Jon Powers in the past. What I discovered is that, even with his candidate winning, Mike Wrona still wants to divide us instead of unite us.

Wrona wrote a post that called Kryzan a "big winner" on Tuesday. He also decided to take jabs at myself and my friend Alan Bedenko, a fellow blogger and Jon Powers supporter. He also seemed to question whether or not we are progressive. I don't know how that does anyone any favors in this situation, but it's not exactly what you should be doing after your candidate wins a primary. Wrona also said that we fell for the "Iraq War veteran label." There is no "label" when you are a veteran. If you are a veteran, you ARE a veteran. It's not a label. It's an honor. Wrona also asserted in that post that the local party leadership in all seven counties picked Powers because of money and "form over substance." Actually, Wrona is wrong. The four rural counties backed Powers first and it was because he is genuine, listens to voters, is very approachable and personable and wanted to go to Washington to be our representative. He traveled every corner of this district early on and that didn't change throughout this campaign. So Wrona clearly does not understand why the party leadership backed Powers.

Wrona wrote another post about Kryzan getting the DCCC's backing. He started off the post by saying "better late than never." Better late than never? Why would the DCCC back a candidate who showed virtually no fundraising ability after being in the race since September 2007 (technically) and a candidate that was very quiet in this race until about a few weeks before the primary? I remember seeing Kryzan at an event in June. It was the Wyoming County Flag Day Party. I guess she had a few supporters there and that's where she stayed. I never saw her walk around the room to introduce herself. Whether it was a pro-Powers crowd or not, people still would have greeted her and treated her with respect.

In that same post, Wrona makes a blatantly false claim. He claims that Charlie Mallow, the current chair of the Genesee County Democrats, said he would be supporting Chris Lee in November. This is not true. What Charlie said is in this post on The Batavian. If you notice, there is an update in that post which reads, "Some will seek other options but, the vast majority will sooner or later support her before Election Day. We are Democrats; we have an ideology that puts us more in line with Kryzan than Lee."

That was his response after he was asked whether or not the county would run away from Kryzan in November. I guess Mike Wrona didn't like that answer so he decided to make up his own. That's unfortunate, especially when he also suggests that Charlie's county committee should act (Charlie has already said that he's not going to serve as county chair again) as well as the state party AND even the governor. Wrona sure went to great lengths to spread a lie.

I will always be a fan of Jon Powers and most importantly, a friend of Jon Powers. But I have never, EVER been a sore loser. I reached out to Alice's campaign Wednesday morning and sent along my congratulations. I have been in contact with them and they seem to be very receptive of rural support and maybe even some netroots support. This is not an easy time for me. I will honestly say that I'm not in Alice's corner yet, but she is a better option than the Republican and she is better than Jack Davis. I can't just throw away 14 months of support for Jon Powers in only a few days. It will take time to get over this tough loss and then refocus our attention on the key races in our state and in our area.

My suggestion to Mike Wrona would be to be more of a uniter and less of a divider. This isn't the first time he had posted fabrications on his blog about myself or someone I know. I usually tell Republicans that we can all have our opinions but we can't have our own version of the facts. I shouldn't be saying that to someone who touts himself as a progressive Democrat. If Mike Wrona wants his candidate to win, he needs to help Kryzan embrace others who were Powers supporters and Davis supporters. Kryzan won with 41 percent of the vote. That means a majority of Democrats in the 26th did not vote for her. She needs to appeal to these people. I don't think she wants one of her supporters saying the things Wrona has said. It does her a great disservice when she and her campaign are working hard to try and contact key people in this area, especially rural chairs like Mallow.