U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei (left) is facing challenges to his Congressional seat from businessman Mark Bitz (center), state attorney Ann Marie Buerkle (right) and retired teacher Mario Paolini (not pictured).
The freshman Democratic Congressman — U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei of DeWitt — is facing a challenge from as many as three opponents this fall in New York’s 25th Congressional District.
As of early April, Maffei’s challengers are three Republicans: Mark Bitz, former owner and CEO of Plainville Farms, a turkey farm in Plainville, N.Y.; Ann Marie Buerkle, an assistant state attorney general, former registered nurse and former member of the Syracuse Common Council; and Mario Paolini, a retired teacher from Fabius.
Unless two drop out of the race, the Republicans will face each other in a primary on Sept. 14, 2010. The general election is Nov. 2, 2010.
The 25th Congressional District includes all of Onondaga and Wayne Counties, the northern part of Cayuga County and portions of Monroe County.
For this year’s election, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for re-election.. Those seats are held by 253 Democrats and 177 Republicans. Five of those seats are vacant. Democrats are fighting to retain a majority in both the House and the Senate this fall, as national discontent grows over divisive issues like the healthcare overhaul and the economy.
In one example of the divisive issues, Rep. Maffei recently voted for the controversial healthcare bill signed into law by President Barack Obamaon March 23.
But national discontent does not always translate to local dissatisfaction, said Danny Hayes, a political scientist at Syracuse University. He cited Dan Maffei’s incumbency and name recognition as two major strengths, even though prospects for Democrats nationwide are bleak. Hayes downplays growing public disapproval of Democrat-driven policies as less important in the 25th Congressional District race.
“My guess is this won’t be as big a deal here with voters as it would in other districts in other states,” Hayes said. Still, Hayes emphasized that Maffei will have to work hard if he is going to convince voters to elect him again.
Here’s an early look at the candidates:
Dan Maffei (Democrat, incumbent)
Rep. Dan Maffei lacked seniority in his first term, but was able to find success in other ways, said his spokeswoman, Abby Gardner. By joining a coalition with other Democrats from the Great Lakes and Midwest, she said, Maffei was able to exert some influence on legislation that needed the coalition’s approval to pass.
“It’s a different kind of influence than having seniority,” Gardner said. “But it’s still effective.”
In addition to his work with the coalition, Gardner said, another Maffei first-term success was a role on the Financial Services Committee in helping to draft the Credit Card Act. The law provides safeguards for credit card users, such as a ban on rate increases deemed unfair.
If he’s re-elected, Maffei plans to use his next term to try to channel more grants and other resources that can create jobs in Central New York, Gardner said.
Maffei, 41, was born in Syracuse. He graduated from Nottingham High School in 1986. He has several university degrees: a bachelor’s degree in history from Brown University; a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
He was a reporter and producer for WSYR Channel 9 News before going into politics. He was a staff member for Sens. Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York. In 2005, Maffei ran then-Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll’s successful re-election campaign. In 2006, Maffei ran for the 25th Congressional District seat for the first time. He narrowly lost to nine-term Republican Jim Walsh of Syracuse. In 2008, Walsh decided not to see re-election. In that year’s election, Maffei defeated former Onondaga County legislator Dale Sweetland for the seat.
Ann Marie Buerkle (Republican, challenger)
Ann Marie Buerkle won both the Republican and the Conservative party nominations in the first week of March. But as of early April, she faces a primary challenge from two other Republicans — Mark Bitz and Mario Paolini.
Since 1997, Buerkle has been an assistant attorney general, with responsibility for representing SUNY Upstate Medical Hospital. She is on leave while seeking the House seat.
Buerkle is a native of Auburn. She now lives in DeWitt. She received her nursing degree from St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing and her law degree from Syracuse University. She has also been a registered nurse who worked at Columbian-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. Buerkle is a mother of six and a grandmother of 11.
In 1994, Buerkle was appointed to the Syracuse Common Council by then-Mayor Roy Bernardi. She has run unsuccessfully for office four times: In 1994, for a full term on the Common Council; in 1987 and 1989 forOnondaga County Legislature; and in 1988 for the Congressional seat eventually held by Republican Walsh and now Maffei.
She is an longtime anti-abortion activist, though she is not now making abortion a major issue in her campaign.
After speaking to small business owners across the district, Buerkle said in a recent interview, she does not want the government to create jobs. Instead, she said, she wants the government to cut taxes and remove itself from trying to directly create jobs.
Lawmakers, she said, should focus on improving the economy through tax cuts that encourage businesses to hire more workers and allow taxpayers to keep more of their own income.
On the recently enacted healthcare legislation, she is sharply critical. The measure, she said, is something many voters don’t want. “It’s really a massive bill that no one has got their arms about,” she said.
Mark Bitz (Republican, challenger)
After Ann Marie Buerkle received the endorsement of the Onondaga County Republicans, Mark Bitz decided to suspend his campaign for the 25th Congressional District. He will decide in June whether to challenge Buerkle for a primary for the Republican designation, he said.
Bitz is a native of Baldwinsville, where he still lives. He received his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and his master’s degree from Cornell University.
This is his first foray into politics. Bitz was president of his family’s turkey-farming business in Plainville, and owner of the company’s former restaurant, Plainville Nature’s Fare, in Cicero. The restaurant closed in February. He founded Central New York Feeds, a dairy feed company, and Central New York Crops, the largest organic grain farm in the Northeast, according to his Web site.
In 2007, Bitz sold Plainville Farms, marking the end of more than 70 years of family ownership of the turkey farm. Selling his family-owned turkey farm was a tough decision, Bitz said, but was necessary because of the high state taxes he faced, as well as fierce competition from out-of-state turkey farms with lower taxes. He wants to serve in Congress to help business owners stay in business and provide jobs, he said.
On issues, Bitz said, he supports enacting merit pay in schools for teachers, decreasing taxes on companies to create jobs, providing incentives for energy conservation, opening additional U.S. lands for oil and natural gas drilling and setting 12-year limits for members of Congress.
Bitz pitches himself to voters as having a successful track record in business that will translate into efficient Congressional service.
“I think I would nudge the country in a direction that would make it stronger and more prosperous,” he said, by supporting policies that will increase the country’s wealth, standard of living, and economic output.
Mario Paolini,( Republican, challenger)
Mario Paolini, a retired teacher from Fabius, declined an interview for Democracywise.
(Brian Hayden is a senior in newspaper journalism.)
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