NY-22 Minute: Brindisi's Challengers & Supporters Respond to Impeachment Inquiry Vote By Luke Perry
NY-22 Republican candidates promptly responded to yesterday’s vote in support of the impeachment inquiry by Rep. Anthony Brindisi.
Claudia Tenney released a short video on campaign social media. Tenney stated that “far left donors who control Anthony Brindisi have spoken.” These donors from “California and New York City” pushed Brindisi “to vote today to impeach our president.”
Tenney contends Brindisi is “continuing to follow the leadership of people like Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, against the interests of people in our community.” “I need your help more than ever,” Tenney concluded, before prompting people to donate money to her campaign.
Steve Cornwell shared similar sentiments through his campaign Twitter account:
“Anthony Brindisi is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, bought and paid for by Pelosi. He campaigned as someone who would reach across the aisle, but proved he is an extremist and Pelosi loyalist. Nothing will get accomplished for NY-22. Brindisi put Pelosi party politics over the people.”
Photo from Newyorkupstate.com
Brindisi did not vote for Pelosi as speaker and has been critical of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez for the Green New Deal, her opposition to Amazon opening a new facility in New York, and for supporting primary challenges to moderate Democrats.
During the 2018 campaign, 64 percent of Brindisi’s donations came from within New York state, compared to 44 percent for Claudia Tenney, who represented NY-22 at the time. 20 percent of Brindisi’s donations came from within the district, 19 percent for Tenney.
Earlier this week, Tenney expressed optimism about her chances in 2020 with Trump back on the ballot, like in 2016, when she was elected to Congress. “I think it’s going to be a good year,” Tenney told Politico, “I think we’ll be able to get some of those gains back,” referring to Trump’s 15 point margin of victory in NY-22.
Tenney continues to face strong opposition from liberal grassroots organizations who helped propel Brindisi to victory last November. Jen DeWeerth, co-leader of Indivisible Mohawk Valley, was pleased that “on this first impeachment inquiry vote to date, Rep. Brindisi is a ‘yes’ to advance the transparent search for the facts via bipartisan standing committees.”
Indivisible Binghamton believes Brindisi’s behavior reflects how “our Congressman takes his votes very seriously, weighing both sides carefully before making a decision.” The organization expressed gratitude for “taking this important, courageous step” of “moving forward with the impeachment inquiry” to answer needed questions. “This is the patriotic thing to do,” the group concluded.
Photo from WKTV
The impeachment inquiry vote, only the third of its kind, passed 232-196, mostly along partisan lines. Two Democrats voted against, Reps. Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2) and Collin Peterson (MN-7).
Peterson said he would not cast a vote on impeachment until all the facts were in, citing concerns about the country being divided, how the process had been conducted thus far, and that a “yes” vote would be deliberately misrepresented by Republicans for partisan purposes.
Van Drew stated that “without bipartisan support I believe this inquiry will further the divide the country, tearing it apart at the seams,” and that impeachment “will ultimately fail in the Senate.”
Former Republican Justin Amash (MI-3) voted in favor. Amash Tweeted that excusing the misbehavior of President Trump will “forever tarnish” members of Congress and asked his GOP colleagues to “step outside your media and social bubble” because “history will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man.”
Following the vote, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham described the process as a “sham impeachment” and a “blatantly partisan attempt to destroy the president.” “The president has done nothing wrong,” Grisham concluded, and “Democrats know it.”
The impeachment inquiry now moves towards the public phase in which witnesses will testify before House committees about President Trump’s s foreign policy toward Ukraine.
This article was updated at 1:49pm on November 2, 2019.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College
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