Barclay drops out of running for NY-23 seat
William A. Barclay said Sunday he will not seek the Republican nomination in the 23rd Congressional District and instead campaign for re-election to the state Assembly.
“As the days went by, increasing I came to realize that something was gnawing at me,” the Pulaski politician said in an e-mail to supporters. “You can sum it up with one simple word: duty.”
Mr. Barclay said he was tempted to run for Congress to excuse himself “from the ever worsening woes of Albany.” He said he even considered resigning his seat to focus full-time on his federal campaign.
“This is not a good time for someone who thinks his sort of common sense and sound judgment are badly needed right where he is just to walk away,” he wrote.
Mr. Barclay’s decision to drop out of the congressional race leaves three potential candidates for the GOP line.
Douglas L. Hoffman, a Lake Placid accountant who finished second during last fall’s special election, and Matthew A. Doheny, a Watertown businessman, are committed. Franklin County Legislator Paul A. Maroun, Tupper Lake, is interested, but said he has not made up his mind.
The seat is held by Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh.
Mr. Barclay was the most outspoken of the potential candidates during his brief flirtation with the seat, with Mr. Owens and Mr. Hoffman being his two main targets for criticism.
The assemblyman also took issue with state Conservative Party leaders, who have pledged their line to Mr. Hoffman exclusively. Mr. Barclay asked Mr. Hoffman to vow not use the minor party line if he did not prevail in the GOP primary, but Mr. Hoffman has refused to do so.
Mr. Barclay said he intends to meet with all Republican candidates and will consider endorsing and campaigning for one of them before the September primary. He reiterated Tuesday that he’ll support whichever candidate Republican voters choose in the primary.
Mr. Barclay, who has represented parts of Oswego and Onondaga counties in the state Assembly since 2003, did not seek the GOP nomination for the congressional seat last July. The assemblyman, who is also a partner at Hiscock & Barclay, Syracuse, ran unsuccessfully for the 48th Senate District during a special election in February 2008.
Here's Mr. Barclay's statement in full:
When I set about on this quest to be elected to represent the people of New York’s 23rd district in the United States Congress, I fully expected that at this point I would be issuing a statement detailing why I think we need to replace liberal Democrat Bill Owens and why I think I can and should be the person to do so.
As the days went by, increasingly I came to realize that something was gnawing at me. You can sum it up with one simple word: duty.
We live in a time of rampant cynicism so maybe it won’t take long for some cynic to gleefully throw at me that famous line by George Bernard Shaw: “When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.”
I fully expect and resign myself to accepting that my citing duty as the reason for my decision will be dismissed by some, perhaps by many, with cynical comments. So be it.
Had I run for Congress I would have had a duty to those who support my candidacy to put in as much time on the campaign trail as my opponents. There are only two ways I could do that.
One way would be to go out campaigning even when I was duty-bound to be in Albany working at the job to which the people have already elected me and for which the taxpayers are paying me to perform. This may well be something that occurs all the time – but I could not in good conscience do that. It’s just not right.
The other way would be to resign my office as a member of the New York State Assembly and devote full time to campaigning for Congress. On first thought this struck me as both an honorable and a practical solution. But upon further reflection I concluded that besides causing the inconvenience and cost of a special election to fill my vacancy, this, too, would be shirking my duty to the people who elected me to the office I now hold.
The financial crisis facing New York State worsens by the day and among its consequences is that those of us whom the people have chosen to represent them in Albany will need to spend a great deal more time on that duty than has been the norm in years past. And today, more than ever before, Albany needs legislators who have the fiscal responsibility and good judgment to seek and insist upon real solutions that protect our state’s future.
In a different year, I could have and would have made a different decision.
It was, I freely admit, very tempting to excuse myself from the ever worsening woes of Albany.
What made it all the more tempting is that I also happen to believe that come January America will have a new Republican majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives – and it would be exciting and a great honor to be among the new team on Capitol Hill reversing our downward spiral, preserving and protecting the American Republic and restoring it to its greatest heights.
But fate has it that this is not a good time for someone who thinks his sort of common sense and sound judgment are badly needed right where he is to just walk away. And so I will seek re-election to the New York State Assembly.
The primary election to pick the Republican candidate to face liberal Democrat Bill Owens is still a long way off – September 15th – and for all we know other possibilities not even now being talked about may emerge.
Because that race has such a serious impact on the people of my area, I intend to continue to speak up and speak out about it as I deem appropriate. I would like to meet with the current contenders, and any future contenders, to discuss issues and hear each one of them out on why he is the one with the best chance of defeating Bill Owens in November. And I will do this with the thought of possibly endorsing and campaigning for one of them in the primary.
Finally, as I have already pledged in writing: I will support whichever candidate Republican voters choose in the primary. Any candidate worthy of the Republican nomination must, in my view, do the same.
