Left to right: Richard Hanna and Michael Arcuri, D-Utica
In a political replay, voters’ choices in the 24th Congressional District are Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, and Republican challenger Richard Hanna.
The general election is Nov. 2.
Control of the House is up for grabs. Democrats now have 258 seats to 177 for Republicans. All 435 seats are up for re-election. Many political analysts predict significant losses by the Democrats, with voters frustrated with government.
In the 24th Congressional District race in 2008, Republican Hanna also ran against Arcuri and lost with 120,880 to Arcuri’s 130,799 votes.
In that 2008 election, Hanna’s loss was partly due to widespread anti-Republican sentiment at the end of the Bush administration, said Jeffrey Stonecash, a Syracuse University political scientist specializing in the study of political parties.
This time, said Stonecash, the political winds are blowing in the opposite direction. Democratic job approval ratings have been dropping sharply. In late 2008, shortly after Democrats swept the White House and Congress, the party had an approval rating of 55 percent. Now, according to a Gallup poll in September, that has dropped to 44 percent.
Those ratings have Democrats worried about losing control of the House and maybe the Senate. Some polls show the 24th Congressional District as a toss-up between Democrat Arcuri and Republican Hanna.
The 24th Congressional District includes Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer and Seneca Counties and parts of Broome, Cayuga, Oneida, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties. Voter registration in the district tilts toward the Republican Party. As of April 2010, there were 156,730 voters registered as Republicans; 134,110 as Democrats, and 75,865 as unaffiliated with a party.
Here’s a look at both candidates:
Michael Arcuri (incumbent, Democrat)
Arcuri, 51, has been the representative for the 24th Congressional District since 2007. He was the first Democrat elected to the office in 56 years. Before running for Congress, Arcuri was the district attorney of Oneida County for 12 years.
He is a native of Utica. He earned h his bachelor’s degree from State University of New York — Albany in 1981 and his law degree from New York Law School in New York City in 1984. He and his wife, Sabrina Deon-Arcuri, have three children.
In his re-election bid, Arcuri faces controversy over his votes on overhauling the nation’s health care system and on a spending package to stimulate the ailing economy. Arcuri voted in favor of the stimulus package bill, which has become deeply unpopular with many conservative voters.
On the health care bill, Arcuri first voted for it and later voted against it. In an interview with the Utica Observer-Dispatch, he explained his change of votes by saying that his constituents’ opposition to the bill convinced him that it wasn’t good for the district.
Arcuri’s press secretary, Jeb Fain, downplays the health care vote. “The response we are getting from the constituents is that the focus is really not that issue. It’s jobs. It’s who is going to improve their lives in this tough economic climate,” Fain said.
In fundraising, Arcuri has a lead with $601,729 compared to $500,070 for Hanna, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It is a non-partisan group in Washington, D.C., that analyzes political money.
Richard Hanna (challenger, Republican)
Republican Hanna, 59, is the owner and president of Hanna Construction in Barneveld, N.Y. about 14 miles north of Utica. He is also a partner in Gabriel Group, a firm that owns apartments.
He is also a native of Utica. He has bachelors’ degrees in economics and political science from Reed College in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Kim, have two children.
Hanna’s campaign manager, Justin Stokes, said that some key issues for Hanna are the economy, education, and healthcare.
On Hanna’s plans to fix the economy, Stokes said, his goals are to cut spending and reform the tax code to “make it fair not only for working families but also for businesses, particularly small businesses.”
A recent poll by the Sienna Research Institute gives gives Arcuri an 8-point lead over Hanna. Hanna’s campaign portrays that evidence that Hanna is closing the gap in the race. “We are encouraged by the results. It clearly shows that all the hard work that Mr. Hanna has put into this race in the last few months is paying off,” said Stokes.
Both of the candidates’ ads have turned accusatory. Arcuri’s latest commercial accuses Hanna of getting rich through his company by overcharging taxpayers through government contracts. In his newest ad, Hanna accuses Arcuri of finding new ways every day to spend and tax with a “failed stimulus plan, trillion dollar deficits, and bailouts.”
(Bianca Graulau is a junior majoring in broadcast and digital journalism and political science.)
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