Fitch listens to community issues at a recent Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse meeting at Syracuse University (Andrew Chernoff)
For Christina Fadden Fitch, running for office gives her a chance to connect with others.
“It’s not about how many hands you shake. It’s having some sort of meaningful interaction,” said Fitch.
Fitch, 46, is the Conservative Party candidate running for the 119th state Assembly District seat in November. She will be facing Republican John Sharon, attorney; Democrat Sam Roberts, a former county legislator; and Green Party member Michael Donnelly, an attorney. All are contending to fill the seat occupied by Joan Christensen, D-Syracuse, who’s retiring after holding the 119th Assembly District seat for 20 years.
The 119th state Assembly District includes Salina, DeWitt, Onondaga and parts of Syracuse. Democrats have a strong advantage in voter enrollment. As of April, the 119th state Assembly District had 81,217 registered voters. Of those, 43.9 percent — or 35,659 voters — are registered Democrat; 26.1 percent — or 21,171 voters — registered Republican; 3,256 registered in the Independence Party; 1,043 registered in the Conservative Party; and 263 registered in the Green Party. Another 23.8 percent — or 19,360 voters — are registered as unaffiliated with any party.
The election is Nov. 2.
In her campaign for the 119th Assembly District seat, Fitch is running on promised to bring what she calls real “change” to Albany. She focuses on three main issues: taxing, budgeting and legislative reform.
“We actually have to reverse course in terms of how our state government is operated,” said Fitch.
She and her supporters credit her with a passion for an eclectic collection of causes. For example, Fitch is a member of The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group. She is also a member of the National Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit conservation group known for planting trees.
She is a longtime opponent of abortion and a member of several organizations that advocate against abortion rights, such as Feminists for Life. From 2005 to 2008, she was assistant executive director of the New York State Right to Life Committee.
For her profession, she is a self-employed legislative and political consultant. She lives in Liverpool with her daughter, Shannon, 15.
In her political career, she is on the Zoning Board of Appeals in Liverpool. In 2008, she made her first run for public office. She was the Republican challenger to incumbent Christensen. Fitch lost the race after receiving 15,639 votes to Christensen’s 35,371.
For the 2010 election, the Republican Party chose Sharon as its candidate. Fitch remains on the Conservative Party’s ballot line.
A native of central New York, Fitch grew up in Liverpool. She graduated from Liverpool High School and received a bachelor’s degree of music and theory at the Eastman School of Music in the University of Rochester. She studied for a doctorate in social psychology at Indiana University, she said, but did not finish the degree.
Running for office runs in her family. Her dad, Henry Fadden, ran for state Assembly when she was a baby and later ran for mayor of Liverpool twice when she was a child. Her dad lost in each of the elections. But, she said, his interest in local issues made her “very aware of politics.”
In her own campaigns, her supporters describe her as genuine grassroots candidate. “I don’t think she’s basically a politician. I think she’s a person,” said Louis Ragonese, a member of the Syracuse Right to Life Association, who knows Fitch well through pro-life protests.
Fitch also gets praise from New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a political action committee that supports her partly because of her stand against abortion.
The Rev. Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, credits her with candor and integrity. “She speaks truthfully and does not dodge the issues,” he said.
For her part, Fitch describes lower taxes as a priority issue. She calls for restricting the tax system to lower taxes on businesses. That, she said, would mean “more jobs” and help the economy.
On the issue of budgeting, she says the government is spending too much money. She cites an example that New York spends more on Medicaid than any other state.
Medicaid is the public health insurance program for the poor and the elderly and disabled in nursing homes. It is paid for through state, local and federal taxes. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2008, New York spent $47 billion on Medicaid. The next two states with the highest Medicaid budgets are California, which spent $38 billion on Medicaid in 2008; and Texas, which spent $21 billion on Medicaid in 2008.
“I’m hearing way too many stories from nurses and medical personnel that there are people who are abusing the system,” said Fitch “And they do not have an effective way to report abuse.”
On the issue of legislative reform, Fitch criticizes state officials for conducting much business behind closed doors. If elected, she said, she would bring “openness, transparency” to state government.
(Andrew Chernoff is a junior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and political science.)
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