To: Interested Parties
From: DCCC
Date: October 30, 2014
Re: Pre-election Day Outlook – New York’s 24th Congressional District
Headed into election day, Rep. Dan Maffei has a clear financial advantage, a robust volunteer-driven ground game, and has the right middle class agenda. Maffei is running a solid campaign against an out-of-touch challenger and is in a strong position for success on election day.
I. Central New Yorkers Support Dan Maffei’s Middle Class Agenda
Since taking office, Dan Maffei has been squarely focused on finding ways to work together to grow Central New York’s middle class, boost the economy and create more jobs. Voters will re-elect Maffei because he understands that Central New York is a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire – and he’s fighting to keep it that way.
Maffei is focused on creating jobs and growing the middle class:
- Maffei has been working to advance commonsense solutions that help grow the economy and lift middle class incomes like making sure women get equal pay for equal work and raising the minimum wage. Maffei is also working to create new jobs in the by working with small businesses and pushing to make critical infrastructure improvement.
- Maffei knows that Social Security and Medicare are hard-earned rights, and Maffei has fought to protect them for Central New York seniors.
- Both elementary and higher education are key to growing Central New York’s economy and helping local businesses expand and Maffei has worked with local schools and university to help our education system.
II. The Case Against John Katko
Despite his efforts to hide his reckless record of putting his own personal politics ahead of Central New Yorkers and his desperate attempts to hide his out of touch ideological agenda, voters in the 24th district know that John Katko doesn’t share their values and puts politics first.
John Katko doesn’t share the same values as the Central New Yorkers he represents:
- Katko opposes a woman’s right to choose, and if elected he will join the ultra-conservative Republicans who want to take away a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. And Katko would even allow employers to deny coverage for common forms of birth control.
- Even though members of both parties support it, Katko is so ultra-conservative that he opposes the Paycheck Fairness Act, even as hardworking middle class families struggle to make ends meet.
John Katko puts politics ahead of Central New Yorkers:
- John Katko left a loaded pistol near an elementary school – that was then used in a robbery, where two people were killed – likely violating the U.S. Marshal’s Code of Conduct. But Katko has no regrets.
- Worse, after Republican mayor was caught soliciting sex with children and facing 30 years in prison for his crime, Katko persuaded the Republican judge to give the mayor a shorter sentence. Katko even said he was “very proud” of his work on the case.
III. Financial Advantage
Maffei has maintained a huge financial advantage over Katko for the entire campaign. At the end of the Q3 fundraising period, Maffei raised $2.4 million for his re-election efforts, putting him at a $1.7 million advantage over his opponent, who raised only $726,000 in total. Maffei’s huge financial advantage allowed him to begin airing broadcast and cable television advertisements as early as August, weeks before Katko and his allies.
Maffei has remained in a strong position to win re-election despite a tidal wave of outside Republican groups spending to try and buy this seat the way they did in 2010. Only this time Maffei, the DCCC and his allies have not let Republicans’ attempts to buy this seat go unmatched.
IV. Ground Game
Maffei’s robust, volunteer driven ground game has put the campaign in a strong position to turn voters out to re-elect him on November 4th. So far, Maffei’s volunteers and grassroots supporters have made 171,000 targeted phone calls, knocked 60,000 doors throughout the district, and held nearly 35,000 personal conversations with voters.
Strong Position Headed Into Election Day
With the election less than a week away, the contrast between Dan Maffei’s focus on the middle class and John Katko’s out-of0touch agenda that puts his own politics ahead of people could not be more clear. Headed into this election, Central New Yorkers are standing behind Maffei’s track record and middle class agenda while they continue to see why John Katko doesn’t share their values. Maffei’s financial and volunteer-driven ground game coupled with his middle class agenda put him in a strong position to win on election day.