14-07-2025
Candidate for New York's 23rd Congressional District makes stop at Harris Hill
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) — A former Republican party affiliate, now Democratic candidate, made a campaign visit at Harris Hill on Sunday to share why he is running to pursue the position to represent New York's 23rd Congressional District.
Attorney Kevin Stocker, who is running against the incumbent Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy, held a gathering at a pavilion at Harris Hill to discuss his campaign with attendees on Sunday, July 13. Stocker told 18 News that he had been a lifelong Republican but changed his party affiliation to Democrat in 2016, the year President Trump was elected to his first term.
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His campaign, according to Stocker, is focused on addressing concerns he said he's heard from people regarding cuts to healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare, VA benefits, and tax cuts to billionaires. He also criticized Langworthy for his loyalty towards President Trump. Stocker exclaimed that Langworthy doesn't have the courage to hold public town halls in person with his constituents to explain his decisions, particularly in the Southern Tier.
'We're going to be fighting for hard working families and hard-working communities and everything that they're currently doing about cutting services that our communities rely on and giving the tax breaks to the billionaires and the millionaires. That's what the campaign is going to be about,' Stocker said. 'We're going to steer the ship the other direction. We're not going to be alienating trading partners and diminishing our status in the world. We're going to improve the lives of hard-working families that are struggling on a day-to-day basis, with all the factors that are going on in our communities, our economies, things of that nature,' he explained.
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Stocker expressed that he has no ill will against millionaires and billionaires for being successful but believes they should pay their fair share in taxes to alleviate financial burden on working families.
He announced his campaign to run against Langworthy in June 2025 and has made stops to other places in the state such as, Owego, Hamburg, Clarence and plans to do town halls in Lockport and Olean in the future.
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