Alexander Portelli, a timber farmer and political newcomer, is ramping up his congressional bid campaign ahead of New York’s June 23 Republican primary.
Portelli is running against State Senator Peter Oberacker, who represents New York’s 51st Senate District, for the state’s 19th Congressional District. The winner of the June primary is expected to move on to the general election against Democratic incumbent Congressmember Josh Riley.
READ: Peter Oberacker Outlines Priorities in NY-19 Congressional Race
New York’s 19th Congressional District is the second largest congressional district in the state, spanning from the Fingers Lakes into the Hudson Valley region.
Like most New Yorkers, Portelli says, he found himself frustrated with politics and the lack of political options. “I decided I’ll run and put my name on the ballot and see what happens, and it’s actually kind of taken off, so it’s been going well far far.”
Portelli grew up and went to public school in Albany before moving out West in his twenties. After several jobs in real estate and business, he returned to New York. Since then, Portelli says the state has strayed from the principles and values that he says make upstate New York special.
“I think everybody has – Republican, Democrat, Independent – everybody kinda has the same issue and it’s [that] people are struggling, you know? Life is tough,” said Portelli. “I think it’s tougher than it’s been in a while, in a long time.”
A top priority for Portelli is tackling “out of control” inflation brought on by out-of-touch career politicians. He’s committed to getting excessive federal spending under control – which he describes as the root cause of inflation.
“People feel like [the government] has no money, but there’s more dollars in circulation than ever before in American history because the government’s just spending $2 trillion a year it doesn’t have,” he said.
Portelli’s also calling for deep reinvestments into the state’s energy infrastructure. He’s been an outspoken critic of NYSEG and National Grid, urging that foreign-owned companies should not run the state’s energy grid and instead calling for local municipalities to run service and delivery for customers.
Portelli has also campaigned to reform the H-1B visa system. He says farmers should be able to access simple work visas for farmworkers, but other H-1B visa holders get exploited from large corporations and “skip Americans.”
The Republican primary is set for June 23. Early voting is expected to be underway before Election Day. Whoever wins the primary will move on to a November race against Riley, the Democratic incumbent.
Image: Alexander Portelli, Republican NY-19 candidate for the June 23 primaries (Photo Credit: Alexander Portelli)