IN THE RUNNING

Meet Vanessa Fajans-Turner, Mike Sigler and Josh Riley — the three local candidates in the congressional race

The road to redistricting in New York State has been anything but smooth. It began with a failed attempt from a bipartisan redistricting commission that was supposed to produce fair maps without gerrymandering. When that couldn’t be done, the commission presented two sets of maps — one that clearly favored Democrats, and one that clearly favored Republicans. With the failure to come to an agreement, the process was left to the state’s majority-Democrat legislature. This led to the new lines announced in February — lines that not-so-subtly benefitted Democrats. Those lines put Ithaca and Tompkins County in the new 22nd congressional district, along with Cortland, Geneva and Syracuse.

The redistricting saga has not yet come to an end, as at the end of March, Justice Patrick F. McAllister, a Republican state supreme court justice based in rural Steuben County, ruled the new districts were unconstitutional due to the obvious partisan advantage it afforded the Democrats. He gave the legislature until April 11 to come up with new lines, or he would appoint an independent “master” to draw them. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state’s attorney general Letitia James said they would appeal the ruling. Regardless of the outcome of this latest bump, it’s unlikely that this year’s election calendar will be suspended. The Democratic primary is slated for June 28.

The new district 22 largely combines the old 22, held by Rep. Claudia Tenney, and the old 24, held by Rep. John Katko, both Republicans. Katko retired earlier this year, and Tenney announced she will instead be running for the new District 23 (Tompkins County’s now former district), which includes much of the Southern Tier west of Tompkins County.

Despite the fact Katko and Tenney are Republicans, the new district is solidly Democrat. Ithaca and Syracuse have long been Democratic strongholds, with Tompkins County voting 73.5 % in favor of Joe Biden in the 2020 election (the biggest margin in the state aside from Brooklyn), and Onondaga County voting about 60 % in Biden’s favor. Cortland County went to Donald Trump, but just barely, with results at 49.8 % for Trump and 47.8 % for Biden. However, though Ithaca has long been strongly blue, its former district has not.

Ithaca was formerly part of district 23, which included the very rural areas west of the county, stretching along the southern tier. This made the district reliably red, and in fact Republican Rep. Tom Reed, who will not be running for re-election after a sexual misconduct accusation, often made a pastime of speaking poorly of Ithaca. So despite the obvious gerrymandering, the new district does seem to provide an opportunity for more satisfying representation for Ithacans.

So with all that said, the field for the 22nd district as it currently stands is crowded. Most of the candidates are Democrats, and most are from Syracuse. But three candidates come from outside Onondaga County and from a little closer to home.

By Tanner Harding

VANESSA FAJANS-TURNER

An Ithacan through and through, Fajans-Turner is a former student of Beverly J. Martin Elementary School, DeWitt Middle School and Ithaca High School. However, her perspective and work experience has given her a more global perspective.

Fajans-Turner worked as a sustainable development professional at the United Nations before beginning work with “James Cameron’s climate and Indigenous-rights focused Avatar Alliance Foundation,” according to her website. She then co-launched Investable Oceans, which aims to connect climate-conscious investors with climate-friendly ocean startups. Currently, she serves as the executive director of BankFWD, a notfor-profit that works to end Wall Street’s expansion and financing for new fossil fuel advancement.

After years of being “the person behind the person,” Fajans-Turner said, she’s ready to become “the person.”

“We have two to three years to make big things happen, and I’m running this year with the goal of sitting and voting in Congress next year,” she said. “It’s the way I hope and believe I, as an individual, can have in achieving the climate goals I believe in.”

Despite her jobs with the UN and fighting Wall Street, Fajans-Turner has also been involved in the climate fight in Ithaca as an advisor on the city’s Green New Deal. She said the knowledge of the work that’s being done here has also served as an inspiration to how her goals for the climate and for improving the district not only coincide, but support one another.

“This district has huge opportunities to lead in fighting climate change while growing its economy,” she said. “Fighting climate change is going to require a lot of new technology to build electric vehicles and to power our houses. That requires larger scale manufacturing for things like renewable batteries, solar panels, heat pumps. This district has one of the richest manufacturing histories in the country, and it’s very well-suited to lead and be home to manufacturing opportunities of the future.” She noted that district 22 has lots of land, students, expertise in research and development, and a proximity to ports. “That really situates this district and this region optimally for what will drive much of the green economy,” FajansTurner said. She added that there’s an important agricultural industry in the district, and that should she be elected she’d like to sit on the agriculture committee “as a way of ensuring climate and agricultural priorities align.”

“As well as making sure agricultural funding is provided in adequate amounts to farms of all sorts in this district to facilitate their ability to transition to more sustainable pathways in a way that increases their income and supports them more than they are now,” Fajans-Turner said.

As well as the climate, Fajans-Turner said she prioritizes healthcare and the overall emotional and physical wellbeing of residents. To this end, she

Vanessa Fajans-Turner is a lifelong Ithacan. (Photo: Provided)

supports Medicare for all “wholeheartedly,” as well as new and improved investments in elder care, childcare and mental health care. She also wants to increase federal financing in education, including free community college, free state college and workforce training for green economy jobs.

Ultimately, Fajans-Turner said she wants to use her experience deep diving into policy and legislation to improve the lives for everyone in district 22, the place she calls home.

“This is the place that made me,” she Fajans-Turner said. “Ithaca is not the district, but it’s home and has always been home. I’ve built a career that I’m excited to make work for this district and for the broader good of the country.”

Learn more about Fajans-Turner at vanessaforcongress.com

MIKE SIGLER

The rare Republican in the district 22 congressional race, you may know Mike Sigler as the long-time legislator from Lansing. Sigler said he had never planned to run for congress, but after seeing the lack of Republican representation in the field and having a few conversations about it, he decided to go for it.

“I’ve been on the legislature for 12 years,” Sigler said. “I’ve been able to win and people think it’s because it’s a red district. It’s not really. It’s because I’m a hard worker. I care about the town of Lansing. I’m a fierce advocate for my constituents.”

He said that despite lines that are seemingly not in his favor, he thinks the demographics actually fit him well.

“At the very least, people know me here and know I’m a reasonable person that they can negotiate with and argue with and not walk away with hurt feelings or no common ground attained,” he said. “We may agree to disagree, but it’s not from a place of negativity. […] From my perspective, I’m a good candidate going forward.”

In addition to his work as a legislator, Sigler also works as an account executive at Park Outdoor Advertising, which has offices in Binghamton, Elmira, Utica and Syracuse. He said this has given him the opportunity to get to know businesses in the region as well.

“I know what they’re going through,” he said.

Sigler said his top priority is crime after he said he saw a lot of police officers step away from their jobs after the defund police movement started. He noted that bail reform has also been “a disaster.”

“Even the governor is saying we need to change it, but legislature said no,” Sigler said. “Democratic leadership is refusing to acknowledge what’s obvious to everyone else.”

He said close to home he’s had a front-row seat to the changes at the Ithaca Police Department and Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office as a result of the Reimagining Public Safety initiative catalyzed by former governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive order. Sigler was one of two legislators who voted against passing the county’s Reimagining plan. His second priority is inflation. He said he generally does his family’s shopping and what used to cost $ 80 at the grocery store is now costing him $ 120. “This is real money, and the speech out of the national government from our president was they were ignoring it, saying it was temporary or not going on,” Sigler said. “When you get into gut issues like that, it makes people take notice. It’s time to step up, and [congress] is a good way to do that.”

He said his familiarity with the issues plaguing residents of Lansing and Tompkins County will effortlessly translate to voters in the northern half of the district too.

“A lot of issues that are true in Ithaca are also true in Syracuse and Geneva and Oneida,” he said. “In Clay, for example, I can talk about the pressures of development on open space. You’re able to weave that tapestry because that’s exactly what we deal with in Tompkins County.”

Sigler said as a congressman he would hold regular town halls in each town in the district.

“That means you go and find out what the issues are in that town,” he said. “I would go and meet every single town supervisor in every town in the district, because they’re the closest to the town’s issues. The congressman works for the towns and works for the villages and works for the schools.”

Learn more at votemikesigler.com. Mike Sigler has represented Lansing on the County Legislature for more than a decade. (Photo: Provided)

Josh Riley was born and raised in Endicott, but now resides in downtown Ithaca. (Photo: Provided)

JOSH RILEY

Born and raised in Endicott, Josh Riley now calls Ithaca home. Despite his early life outside of the district, Riley thinks many of his experiences are universal.

“One thing I’m convinced of is no matter what zip code you’re in, upstate New Yorkers are facing the same challenges,” he said. “Across the region we’ve lost so many good jobs, manufacturing jobs. roughout upstate New York families are having a really hard time making ends meet.”

He adds that “my story is this region’s story.” Riley’s family has lived in the Endicott area for more than 100 years, mainly working in local factories.

“We lost a lot of those jobs as my generation came of age,” he said. “We have lost twothirds of manufacturing jobs in the last generation.”

So Riley went a different path. He began his career working as a staff assistant in Congressman Maurice Hinchey’s office. He also had a fellowship on Sen. Ted Kennedy’s Labor & Pensions Committee staff where he worked on legislation to raise the minimum wage. He also served as a policy analyst at the U. S. Department of Labor.

He then graduated from Harvard Law School and began working with the American Academy of Pediatrics. He then served as a law clerk for Judge Kim Wardlaw on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California. He returned to Washington, D. C. from California to serve as general counsel to Sen. Al Franken on the senate judiciary committee. Currently, Riley is an attorney in a private legal practice and resides in downtown Ithaca.

After years in public service, Riley said one of the things that compelled him to run for congress is his fear for the state of the country’s democracy.

“Our politics right now are just being torn apart at the scenes by extremists who are more interested in peddling conspiracy theories and sowing division than bringing people together to solve big problems for the common good,” he said. “My son was 5 months old when Jan. 6 [2021] happened, and it became clear to me that I can’t take it for granted that he’s going to grow up in a functional democracy. How are we going to tackle things like climate change, rising costs and income inequality if we can’t even have a peaceful transition of power?”

Riley said as he’s gotten to talking to people around the district, he’s been inspired and excited about the opportunities for the region. “The world is facing a lot of new challenges with climate change, the digital divide, inflation. Here, we can solve those problems,” he said. “We have the hardest working people and a track record of doing advanced manufacturing and doing it in a really good way.” Another priority to Riley is protecting the environment, especially locally as the threats of Bitcoin mining on Cayuga Lake seem to be a looming dark cloud.

“This region’s beauty is one of the greatest assets. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and we need to protect that,” he said. “We need to protect it because it’s the right thing to do for the environment and the right thing to do for the economy. We have a strong and growing tourism industry, and one of the things I’d be focused on doing in Congress is designating the Finger Lakes as a National Heritage Area.”

Learn more about Riley at joshrileyforcongress.com.