NORWICH – 24th Congressional District candidate Richard Hanna stopped in Chenango County Monday on a campaign sweep through the large, 11-county central New York region that he aims to represent.
The self-made businessman and community volunteer entered the political arena two years ago in a close race that he lost to Congressman Michael Arcuri, D-Utica. With the endorsement of 91 percent of the district’s Republican committees and the backing of the GOP in Washington, he hopes to do better this time around.
If recent media reports are any indication, perhaps it is Hanna’s turn. Time magazine recently named him one of the Republican Party’s top 10 Congressional contenders and someone who could follow in the wake of the Massachusetts Senate victor, Republican Scott Brown. And political analyst Stuart Rothenberg remarked about his thoughtful, down to earth and straightforward approach: “my b.s. meter didn’t go off even once,” the analyst wrote in his March report.
Chenango County Republican Committee Chairman Tom Morrone said the candidate has been much more visible, people know who he is now, and he suspected that he’ll make a different once elected.
“He’s a businessman, he comes from a different angle than Arcuri. People who have met him have been very impressed with him,” Morrone said.
Hanna doesn’t really consider himself a politician or a traditional Republican. He said he entered politics because he felt it was his responsibility. A graduate of Reed College in Oregon, he supported his own family after his father died and later went on to build a successful commercial construction business. As a volunteer, he has been active in many charitable organizations. In 2004, and in cooperation with the Women's Fund, he founded “Annie's Fund,” an organization that helps women make positive changes at critical points in their lives.
Now married with two small children, the candidate said even if he doesn’t win, there is “honor in failing for the right cause.”
“It’s been uphill from the day that I started and it’s only getting steeper. The time spent on my education and career is a downpayment on now,” he said over lunch at Park Place Restaurant in Norwich. The candidate had already visited Raymond Corporation in Greene in the morning and had an appointment set with management at NBT Bank in Norwich for the afternoon.
Hanna is pro-choice, supports civil unions for gays and is against gun control. Yet on the conservative side, he opposed the stimulus bill (because he said it created bigger government), the public insurance option, an insurance mandate in health care reform and cap and trade.
He strongly supports term limits and complains openly about the role of public servants today.
“I still think the House of Representatives, in particular, is designed to impart a person’s wisdom for two years, and then go home. But now, it’s become the purview of career politicians. It’s bad for democracy,” he said.
In fact, Hanna thinks both political parties have it all wrong. He said bigger government advocated by the Democrats and less taxes pursued by the Republicans only leaves the population in the middle.
“Government is at war with itself,” he said.
His challenger’s flip-flopping on previous claims to oppose cap and trade and support for health care legislation, and then voting in the opposite direction, isn’t what he would call an example of good leadership.
“He (Arcuri) gave up his vote on health care because he wants to stay in politics a long time. When I saw that, I realized the guy wasn’t representing us,” he said.
Hanna particularly objected to Arcuri’s statement opposing the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s ability to regulate natural gas drilling into the Marcellus Shale. Hanna said he was in favor or property owners’ rights in the natural gas debate, but only with security for the water aquifers.