Experience and Vision: Why I’m Supporting Emily Martz

Emily Martz has time and again demonstrated that she is the best Democrat to take on Elise Stefanik.

At a recent forum, I had the opportunity to ask three candidates about an issue that is very important to me: social mobility.

Two of the three answers were typical: they were good, though a bit generic.

Emily’s answer, however, was detailed, caring, and clear. As someone who has lived in this district, she has seen firsthand the economic challenges facing working class families. She understands that currently those born into working class families have little chance to improve their station. Couple the stagnant social mobility with weak economic development in the region and you find have a recipe for economic and social decline.

Emily outlined 4 areas that she felt needed to be addressed to begin turning around the social mobility trend:

Education:

• Public schools need more local control to ensure students are receiving the education that they need
• Public schools need more funding to get our kids ready

Universal Healthcare:

• Universal care will eliminate the huge burden on lower income and middle class families
• The burden of healthcare issues can prevent social mobility

Infrastructure:

• Infrastructure will not only bring jobs to the area, but is also critical for a new economy
• High speed internet access is a must if our students are to have an equal educational standing with students in other areas of the country

Taxes:

• Wages associated with the working class get taxed at a higher rate than the capital gain earnings produced by the wealthy
• Someone with extreme wealth can sit back, invest that money, and be taxed on the earnings at a lower rate than most of us
• This needs to change and rates need to be normalized

I was really impressed with her answer. But, two days later, Emily reached out. She said that she had been thinking a lot about that question and had independently done some additional research. She had reached out to a child development specialist. She shared that recent research suggests that as few as three adverse experiences for a child can make it very difficult for that child to overcome their economic shortcomings. These adverse experiences make social mobility even harder. Such experiences might include losing a home, being placed in foster care, having a parent fight addiction, etc. These adverse experiences disproportionately impact lower income families.

Basically, the financial fragility of working class families leaves them prone to significant challenges should any kind of emergency occur. This creates a negative impact on children and greatly reduces their chances for better outcomes over the course of their lives.

In her email she also touched on opioids and the importance of expanding pre-k and Headstart. Early childhood development programs lead to better outcomes and as investments, reap tremendous societal benefits. They are also less expensive than trying to cure these ills through a different mechanism later in life.

So, Emily provided the most detailed answer at the forum, reached out to a specialist after the event, and, not yet satisfied, then took time to send an email summarizing those thoughts and learnings.

This outreach and effort illustrates so clearly why I am supporting Emily. She has the knowledge. She has the work ethic. But, most importantly, she cares.

She believes that we need to live in a more just world — and not a “bleeding heart” utopia, but rather a place where we have basic health and basic financial security for ourselves and our families. She believes in restoring the values of an America gone-by: if you work hard and put your talents to use, you can live a more secure existence that provides a good, happy, and prosperous life for your family. That America, right now, doesn’t exist. Fixing it will be hard work and requires the right person with the right set of skills.

While the other candidates are great in many ways, we need to support the person who is best suited to directly address the economic challenges plaguing this region. Emily is that person. She has the vision, work ethic, business acumen, and development experience. She has lived and worked in this district. She has the tools to bring economic vitality to this area, to encourage young families to move back to our small towns, and to create policies that make us more secure (both from a financial and health perspective).

Please support Emily Martz!