VALATIE–The Kinderhook Democratic Committee gathered at the Winding Brook County Club Saturday, April 12 to present the 2014 Jefferson-Jackson Award to Robert Secovnie.
In his speech, Mr. Secovnie recalled how, when he was young campaigning consisted of handing out campaign literature, no mailings and nothing negative.
Sean Eldridge, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in the 19th Congressional District, which includes all of Columbia County, attended the event. He was joined by his husband, Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook, who left the company to work on then Senator Barack Obama’s digital media campaign in 2007, according the New York Times.
In his remarks, Mr. Eldridge, founder and president of the investment company Hudson River Ventures, said he came from “a family that invested in me but I also grew up with a country that invested in me.” He went on to say, “I’m really concerned that we’re not doing a good enough job of that right now.”
Mr. Eldridge said that his father was the first member of his family to graduate from high school. His mother came from a working class family of immigrants who fled Europe after World War II. “My dad was a Republican and my mom was a Democrat, so at our dinner table there were a lot of spirited conversations about politics,” he told the crowd.
Mr. Eldridge is hoping to face two term Congressmen Chris Gibson (R-19th) from Kinderhook, who is running for reelection.
