Peggy Chase grew up around politics.
Chase
Two of her great-uncles were town supervisors and her mother was a good friend of Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s grandmother, a longtime local political activist. But the moment Chase realized she wanted to get into politics was when she saw president John F. Kennedy in Syracuse when she was 13.
“I’ve always kind of had that interest in history and government. There was one time when I was in, I think I was just starting high school, so I would have been about 13 years old, my parents took us down to see Kennedy when he was in town and he was campaigning. That was something that stuck in my mind for many a lot of years. He was very attractive, and I think even at 13 you notice those things. But he just had a charisma about him. And he was the first Catholic running, which was a big thing for us because I am Catholic and I went through all Catholic schools.”
(Peggy Chase, Democratic challenger for Onondaga County District 9)
Now, Chase is the Democrat running for the District 9 county legislature seat against the newly appointed Republican Bob Andrews for the fall 2013 election.
District 9 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the northeastern part of the city of Syracuse. Of the 13,517 registered voters in the district, 48 percent – or 6,514 people – are Democrats; 19 percent – or 2,616 people – are Republicans; and 25 percent – or 3,399 people – are unaffiliated with a political party.
As she begins campaigning for the District 9 seat, Chase emphasizes her background in nursing and healthcare. At age 19, she graduated from Upstate Medical University and immediately started working at Upstate hospital in orthopedics, the emergency department, intensive care units and the recovery room. At 20, she was promoted to manager and ran the orthopedic floor for seven years.
“My career has offered me an opportunity to learn a lot of management skills; it’s offered me an opportunity to do budgeting things, which are big in the county. As a manager, I’ve developed budgets and live within them. So I know what that’s like. I’ve also had an opportunity to work with grant writing and get money for different programs.”
(Peggy Chase, Democratic challenger for Onondaga County District 9)
Chase is a lifelong resident of Eastwood. Today, she lives with her coonhound-boxer mix, Toby.
After she retired from nursing in 2008, Chase began teaching leadership and nursing management classes at various schools, including Syracuse University, SUNY Upstate, Morrisville State and Keuka College. She continues to teach and is also the Democratic Chair of the city’s 5th Ward, sits on the New York State Nurses Board and volunteers every month at the Poverello Health Clinic on 808 N. Salina St. The clinic offers free medical service for the uninsured.
Sister James Peter Ridgeo is medical coordinator at the Poverello Health Clinic. She has known Chase since Chase began volunteering at the clinic in 2003. She says Chase is a good listener and instructor.
“I would imagine her ability to teach and her teaching skills would come in good for as far as educating the people of what is going on in the community and maybe what needs to be done. She very much likes to hear and is on the side of the person, the impoverished, the people who maybe don’t always get heard.”
(Sister James Peter Ridgeo, medical coordinator at the Poverello Health Clinic)
Walter Bowler, an attorney for the New York State Education Department, has known Chase for 13 years. When a medical professional has been charged with misconduct, Bowler’s office calls in nurses like Chase to assess the case. He says in the county legislature, Chase would be a bi-partisan problem-solver.
“As a Democrat she would reach across the aisle to Republicans say ‘If there’s services people need, it’s more important we find a way to produce those services.’ She’s wise enough to be able to stand up for her political side, but also wise enough to say ‘The end result is important.’ And if we have to find some compromises along the way to provide to still deliver the best services to the community, she’s able do that.”
(Walter Bowler, attorney for the New York State Education Department, office of professional discipline)
Mark Stanczyk is the former District 9 legislator whose seat Chase is seeking. He says Chase offers distinctive perspectives as both a woman and an older candidate.
“First of all she’s a lady, she’s a female. It’s always nice to get more females involved in elected politics. Second of all, she’s had a breadth of experience. She’s not 22 anymore. So she has the wisdom and the experience of having done things, learning from mistakes.”
(Mark Stanczyk, former legislator for District 9 and now deputy commissioner of community services in the county Department of Social Services)
Diane Dwire is Chase’s treasurer and semi-campaign manager, the former chair of the Onondaga County Democratic Party and a friend of Chase’s for over 25 years. She and Chase are both nurses and met through professional and political groups. She says Chase is a perfect fit in the legislature.
“What she brings to the table overall is a very , intelligent, knowledgeable, confident woman.”
(Diane Dwire, former Onondaga County Democratic Party chairwoman, friend of Chase)
Dwire also helped Chase make one of Chase’s biggest contributions to local politics: starring in a political advertisement for Democratic Congressman Dan Maffei of DeWitt. When the Maffei campaign called Dwire to ask about doing a commercial, Dwire recommended Chase.
“Her commercial ended up being what I’d call a soft-hard sell. And people today, she would go into the grocery store and people say: ‘You’re the one on the commercial!’ It turned out to be one of the best commercials.”
(Diane Dwire, former Onondaga County Democratic Party chairwoman, friend of Chase)
“I was kind of hesitant to do it because I wasn’t sure how it was gonna go. But it was fun.”
(Peggy Chase)
In her campaign, Chase says her top three issues as legislator would be health, safety and the environment.
“As a nurse, and being into health, I’m big into the environment. I’m not exactly a tree-hugger, but I do think we have to be careful of things we’re putting into the environment. We need to be monitoring the waste that companies, organizations are putting either into the air or into our water.
I see an elected position as one that it’s not about me, it’s about the people that elected me and what is the best thing for them, what their issues are.”
(Peggy Chase)
The election will be on Nov. 5.
Reporting for Democracywise, I’m Tyler Greenawalt.
(Tyler Greenawalt is a junior with dual majors in newspaper and online journalism and political science.)
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