Randy Kuhl’s Gearing Up For a Fight

By Peter Halliday, Steuben YRs

Looking at the number of Republicans that are in Congress from New York is a depressing act.

In a Republican-friendly upstate area, that should be different, but it isn’t. And even though Steuben County is an area where Republicans out-number Democrats, the congressional districts that neighbor us are slowly being lost.

Enter Randy Kuhl. Randy Kuhl is a local guy. He was a lawyer that represented us in Albany first as an Assemblyman and then in the Senate. One of the hallmarks of Randy Kuhl during his career has been constituent service. There’s no one who fights harder for the citizens whom they represent.

Here we are after a year and a half since Democrats reassumed control over Congress, you would think things should be easier. The other party has lower poll ratings than the President they so quickly criticize.

The opponent who ran against Kuhl in 2006 even came close. He’s a professional politician who can’t decide what party he belongs to. He used to be registered Republican, and then registered Democrat around the time he moved here. Most of his money is coming from outside of the district. The Democratic leadership seems committed just to knock off one of the last Republicans in the House in our area.

But Representative Kuhl isn’t going without a fight. He’s revamped his website, www.kuhlforcongress.com, and he is making a lot of changes that many of us Young Republicans had made. He’s using other sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

During his last race, there were dozens of people who came into our district from downstate to help him out. This was before the Democrat leadership really cared about the race. This could mean a standoff in our district for one of the last Republican seats this way.

Peter Halliday is the President of the Steuben County Young Republicans.

Steuben YRs: Club of the Year

by Peter Halliday, Steuben YRs

The Steuben County Young Republican Club has been recognized as the Club of the Year by the New York State Young Republicans this past March.

“Steuben County is leading the way for small counties in terms of campaign involvement and positive impact for local Republicans,” said NYSYR Chairman Chris Dziedzic.

“Through blogs, podcasting, and videos, President Peter Halliday and his team are also using the Internet to multiply their impact. That is impressive, particularly in a rural county.”

Dziedzic also cited the successful state board meeting that was held in Riverside last September as well as the increase in membership and activity for the club during 2007.

“We were able to put 30 Young Republicans on the ground working to elect one of our own members, Tom Reed, as an upset winner for Mayor of Corning,” commented Halliday when asked what the most exciting accomplishment of the year was. “To win what many people consider the most prestigious award the state gives out is something that really caps off a great 2007 for our group.”

Halliday credited the leadership and members of the club for the award. “We have a great group, but there is always room for more young professionals who want to get involved in local and county politics.”

In the last two years, the group has kept growing. The vast majority of the people that are members are new to the world of local politics. Halliday looks forward to focusing on creating a legacy of an active Young Republican club in the county for many decades to come.

The advice that Halliday gives other small clubs is that any club can accomplish what the Steuben YRs have.

“We have a very rural county that is spread out, and it is one of the largest in the state. We have people willing to cross the county and drive 45 minutes each month to attend meetings. We credit that with keeping our meetings interesting. We try to focus on action; giving people something they can do afterwards. We try to cast a vision that’s bigger than the group. If it can be accomplished by the group alone, then the vision isn’t big enough for us.

“Most of it is just working really hard, staying focused, and never giving up.”

NYSYR Fall Meeting in Steuben County

by Peter Halliday, Steuben YRs

The Fall Board Meeting for the New York State Young Republicans was hosted this year in beautiful Steuben County from September 14th to September 16th. The weekend contained a perfect mix of business, socializing, and political activity.

It started off with a fundraiser for Tom Reed, a member of the Steuben County Young Republicans who is running for Mayor of the City of Corning. The fundraiser was a stellar event with twelve Young Republican members showing their support for our candidate.

The next day we were in for a real treat. We started the day at the Corning Country Club, which hosts the annual LPGA Corning Classic golf tournament.

During the business portion of our meeting, we heard reports from various county clubs, NYSYR officers, and discussed issues concerning the NYSYR’s involvement with the Young Republican National Federation and a resolution adopted by the NYSYR Executive Board that morning.

After the business portion of our meeting, we were treated to a scrumptious lunch while hearing from Assemblyman Jim Bacalles, and former Congressman Amo Houghton. Both hit home great lessons from their years in office as well as offering advice on how to succeed in politics.

Following lunch, we went door to door to help two City Council candidates and Tom Reed for Mayor. The literature drop was targeted with precision, so people were able to deliver the materials quickly to key voters. It was a great chance for Republicans from around the state to help Republicans in Corning win back the Mayoralty and the Corning City Council, both of which were under Republican control until recently.

However, the pinnacle of the experience was, undoubtedly, the winery tours. While tasting wines, we enjoyed some live music at Heron Hill Winery, which was a blast. Bully Hill Winery has certainly left an unforgettable impression as the son of the owner treated us to a tasting that was the most fun you could have at a winery--more so than even tasting the wine! We then concluded the evening with another hearty meal as we heard from the Chairman of the Steuben County Republican Party, Bill Hatch and Congressman Randy Kuhl.

I’m sure that many can tell you who were there that it was a stellar event that few will forget.

Peter Halliday is the Chairman of the Steuben County Young Republicans.