The newly drawn 25th Congressional District of New York, which sits along the southern coast of Lake Ontario, includes most of Orleans County and all of Monroe County — basically the city of Rochester and its surroundings. While the city has some of the highest child poverty rates in the country, and the city’s school district has been on the brink of bankruptcy, many of the suburbs that surround the city are quite wealthy and tout some of the best schools in the country.
The two candidates are also very different. Democrat and incumbent Rep. Joe Morelle, who served the area for years in the state Assembly, is vying for his third full term in Congress, while Republican La’Ron Singletary is a former Rochester police chief and relative newcomer to electoral politics.
Both candidates say they are fighting for the issues their constituents care about, but they identified very different priorities when speaking with Capital Tonight.
Morelle cited reproductive rights for women, getting illegal guns off the street and building a strong health care system.
“I’m really happy that we were able, at least as it relates to Medicare, to negotiate drug prices to cap out of pocket spending and reduce the cost of insulin,” Morelle said, referring to one aspect of the Inflation Reduction Act. “We have a lot more to do and I want to go back to Washington to continue those efforts.”
On COVID-19, the flu and polio, Morelle acknowledged that the country still faces significant challenges.
“I’m concerned about all of this,” Morelle said. “We have to be ever vigilant.”
When asked about the economy, Morelle said that Democrats have started the process of reinventing the economy with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
“There was a great announcement for upstate New York about Micron coming to the Syracuse area. That will have important benefits for all of upstate New York as we really build the microelectronics supply chain,” he said.
Singletary bemoaned how law enforcement has been treated in Rochester over the past couple of years while at the same time blaming crime on Democrats.
“The number one thing we have to do is support our law enforcement officers. The second thing we have to do is call up politicians who are in favor of ridiculous policies they’ve put in place like cashless bail and ‘Less is More’ in New York that is costing people their lives,” he said.
Singletary, who served in law enforcement for 20 years, said he would also work with the Department of Justice to find grants, resources and other opportunities for the Rochester Police Department.
“That’s exactly what I did as police chief here in Rochester. We worked with our federal partners,” he said.
Singletary is also prioritizing the economy.
“People are living paycheck to paycheck — two out of three Americans — and you have 8.3% inflation. People are having a tough time putting food on their table and gas in their cars.”
Election Day is Tuesday Nov. 8.