Name: Joseph Crowley
Age: 48
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Occupation: United States Congressman, 7th Congressional District
Decision to Run: I grew up in Woodside, graduated from Queens College, and co-owned a successful small business in Queens for more than a decade. New York’s seventh congressional district is my hometown and it has been an honor to represent it in the U.S. House of Representatives. My family instilled the value of public service in me from an early age. My father, a dedicated police officer, and my uncle, a respected public servant here in Queens, taught me the importance of giving back to the community. I hope to continue my family’s commitment to public service by continuing to serve my community with another term in Congress.
Major Issues: Across the United States, including in our area, steps must be taken to strengthen our economy and create high-paying jobs with generous benefits. We can address this issue by providing every child with a high-quality education. Over the past few years, Congress has provided record increases in student aid so more people can obtain a higher education, and we have made the student aid application process simpler.
We must also do more to help our small businesses grow and expand. I supported the small business lending act that was recently signed into law, which took a number of important steps to address these issues.
Top Priorities: My number one priority will be to continue efforts to get our economy back on track. We must maintain our investments in education programming at every level, invest in job training for hard-working Americans and cut off the tax incentives that are encouraging U.S. employers to ship jobs overseas. From my seat on the Ways and Means Committee, I will also work to ensure small businesses know their tax obligations with certainty so they no longer have to struggle with an ever changing tax code.
Name: Kenneth Reynolds
Age: 50
Party: No Party, but running on the Republican/Conservative lines
Occupation: Semi-retired
Decision to Run: I’ve had enough of a corrupt Congress and in particular with six-term liberal-Democrat incumbent Joe Crowley
Major Issues: The housing market and illegal drugs
Top Priorities: Repealing the recently passed “health-care” bill
