CORNING, N.Y. – A congressional candidate from Corning is making a case for democrats throughout the southern tier to consider her when they vote in the June primary. Corning’s Melissa Dobson is running for the newly created 23rd Congressional District and is focusing her campaign on a platform of connecting the eastern and western parts of the sprawling district.
“In this campaign I’ve made efforts to connect the businesses in the western part of the district all the way to the eastern area, as far east as Tioga County, were I reside,” explains Dobson. “When I see the opportunities there, isolated from the rest of New York State or even the eastern part of this district, it’s disappointing to me that people haven’t recognized how to interconnect those resources. My platform is to develop some of the infrastructure throughout New York State, looking at the assets that we have in the Western and Eastern district – and throughout the entire state – to see how we can interconnect those opportunities.”
Dobson is a licensed attorney from Corning who works with start-up companies across the Southern Tier and throughout the state to link education and job opportunities. She is currently campaigning throughout the district in an effort to win her party’s primary on June 26.
Dobson’s opponents in the primary are attorney Leslie Danks Burke and Tompkins County legislator Nate Shinagawa, who’s already received the endorsement of Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, the Chautauqua County Democratic Committee, and several other officials throughout the 23rd District.
Despite the momentum Shinagawa has received in recent weeks, Dobson says she feels there are a couple of key factors that separates her from the current front-runner.
“I’ve met Nate. He is a gentleman and I see he’s had some experience in politics. However, I have some doubts on his experience as a 28 year old young male with no family and New York State property ownership. So I’m conflicted with how someone can represent a constituency if they don’t understand some of those base issues,” Dobson tells WRFA.
Dobson says she plans to make several stops in Chautauqua County in the coming weeks to continue her grassroots, door-to-door campaign. She says some of the other issues she wants to address are greater efficiency in government, economic development and education training.
The winner of the June Democratic primary will square off in November against current congressman Tom Reed, a republican from Corning who is serving his first term in Washington.
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