New York: Ninteenth District

Rep. John Hall (D)

John Hall (D) Elected 2006, 1st term up
Born:	07-23-1948, Baltimore, MD
Home:	Dover Plains
Education:	Attended U. of Notre Dame, Loyola Col. (MD)
Religion:	Protestant
Marital Status:	married (Pamela)
Elected  Office:	Ulster Cnty. Legislature, 1989-91; Saugerties Bd. of Educ., 1996-99.
Professional Career:	Singer/songwriter.
DC Office	1217 LHOB, 20515 202-225-5441 Fax: 202-225-3289 Website: johnhall.house.gov
State Offices	Carmel:845-225-3641x371; Goshen:845-291-4100;
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The great interior of America can be said to begin where the Hudson River squeezes through the series of Appalachian ridges at the Hudson Highlands. This choke point was the barrier to British military power during the Revolutionary War, when American forces built a chain across the river to keep the British from sailing north. It was over control of this part of the Hudson that Benedict Arnold betrayed his country, and it was here that the new nation built its Military Academy high on the cliffs at West Point. The Hudson was the impetus for the builders of the Erie Canal and the water-level New York Central Railroad, the great projects that made New York City the port of the American interior, as well as for the builders of the Croton Aqueduct not far away, which provided the water without which New York could not grow—and which provided a way for the first cockroaches to reach the city. Some distant day the great aqueduct may crumble, but the cockroaches will remain.

The 19th Congressional District of New York covers much of the lower Hudson Valley, sprawling across parts of five counties. West of the Hudson, the district takes in much of Orange County, New York’s second-fastest growing county from 1990 to 2004, where old farming villages like Warwick adjoin mountains, farms and new, middle-income subdivisions on the nation’s biggest deposit of muck soil outside the Everglades. The district includes Kiryas Joel, a politically controversial Satmar Hasidic settlement that became embroiled in a long-running battle over whether it could establish a government-funded but religiously run school district for disabled children. Its 20,000 residents function almost as a single voting unit, without much regard to partisan affiliation, a fact that has not escaped the notice of the state’s top politicians, who regularly court local leaders. When Mayor Abraham Wieder backed President Bush in 2004, Bush won 92% here. While the district excludes two of Orange County’s biggest population centers, Middletown and Newburgh, it takes in portions of northern Rockland County, including Stony Point, the home of James A. Farley, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaign manager in 1932 and 1936. The district crosses the Hudson where the rebels’ chain did, near West Point. East of the river, the district begins in northern Westchester County, including Peekskill, where George Pataki was mayor before becoming governor; Croton-on-Hudson; Yorktown; and Mount Kisco. Farther north, the 19th takes in all of Putnam County and part of Dutchess County, including the suburbs (but not the center city) of Poughkeepsie, and Wappingers Falls; Putnam has become popular for first-time homebuyers who take the 80-minute commute to Grand Central Station. The region also has proved attractive to middle- and higher-income public and corporate employees seeking reasonably priced housing in safe areas, a trend that has led to robust growth at a time when other areas of New York state are losing population; immigrants from Ecuador who have settled here find the mountains and farm land similar to home. Politically, this area moved toward Democrats in the 1990s, but voted for George W. Bush in 2004.

The new congressman from the 19th District is John Hall, a Democrat elected in 2006. The singer-songwriter Hall is the first professional rock musician to serve in Congress. (Singer Sonny Bono did not play an instrument on stage.) Hall was raised in Upstate New York and began playing the piano at four. His father was a Westinghouse engineer, and his mother a college professor. He entered Notre Dame University at 16 and studied physics for just a year, and later attended Loyola College in Baltimore. Hall dropped out of school to pursue a music career, performing in the West Village and writing music for Broadway musicals. He recorded with such top artists as Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson Browne. In 1972, he helped found the soft rock band Orleans, which performed the smash hits “Still the One” and “Dance With Me.” Even then Hall was a budding policy wonk and activist, occasionally holding forth on the dangers of plutonium production. Hall became an accomplished session guitarist and played with Bob Dylan during a short-lived music project. In 1977, Hall left Orleans to pursue a solo career but the group reunited in 1984. Hall also became an activist for anti-nuclear and environmental causes. He founded the anti-nuclear group Musicians United for Safe Energy and in 1979 organized a series of “No Nukes” concerts.

Hall won his first elected office in the early 1990s when he served two years in the Ulster County legislature, and then four years on the Saugerties School Board. In October 2004, he attracted fleeting national attention for noisily protesting the Bush campaign’s use of “Still the One” at events. The Bush campaign did not have Hall’s permission and stopped using the song, but the incident served to stoke Hall’s interest in politics. Hall entered the race against Republican Sue Kelly at the urging of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz, who overheard Hall complaining backstage about the Iraq war after a Florida concert, and also from Maurice Hinchey, who represents an adjoining congressional district. But in the Democratic primary, party strategists preferred lawyer Judy Aydelott, a former Republican, because of her seeming crossover appeal and fundraising skills. Hall, who was viewed as too liberal for the district, nevertheless had considerable grassroots strength, and his star power and music industry contacts won him enough attention and money to remain competitive. He defeated Aydelott 49%-27% in the four-way primary held on September 12.

Kelly first won the district in 1994 and initially faced stiff opposition, but had since won reelection easily, bolstered by her moderate record and endorsements from the New York League of Conservation Voters and local labor groups. This time, Hall had the support of organized labor and worked to tie Kelly to President Bush. Kelly portrayed herself as an “independent voice” and attacked Hall as a tax-raising liberal who would vote to impeach Bush, advocate for socialized medicine and withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. During the general election, a mailer surfaced showing the reprinted cover of the Orleans’ 1976 “Waking and Dreaming” album, in which Hall appeared bearded and bare-chested along his bandmates. “John Hall, wrong for America” read the mailer, which was in contrast to Hall’s usual campaign appearances in pinstripes and wingtips. Hall wasn’t a completely buttoned-down candidate: Against the advice of his advisers, he sang an impromptu duet of “Dance With Me” with cable TV talk show host Stephen Colbert, a scene that played repeatedly on the Internet.

Republicans have an 18,000-voter enrollment advantage in the district and Kelly appeared well-positioned for another term, until late in the campaign when she became tarred by the congressional page scandal involving Florida Republican Mark Foley. Kelly had previously served on the page board; she faced questions about her awareness of Foley’s behavior. A television crew filmed her running away from questions about the Foley scandal. Hall won the general election 51%-49%, by less than 5,000 votes, with the winning margin coming from Westchester County.

Hall is a likely Republican target in this swing district, a fact he seemed to acknowledge when he told the Washington Post after the election that he had met with Raytheon lobbyists and criticized their missile system. “Maybe they’ll write checks to my next opponent. I don’t care. I got into this race because my wife told me to stop yelling at the TV,” Hall said. Republican Andrew Saul, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, declared his candidacy in April 2007; Kieran Lalor, an Iraq war veteran, was also making moves to run.

Committees

• Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (8th of 9 D).
  
• Transportation & Infrastructure (35th of 41 D)
  Aviation; Water Resources & Environment.
• Veterans' Affairs (7th of 16 D)
  Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs (Chmn.); Economic Opportunity.

Presidential Vote

District Demographics (More Info)

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 1
• Area size: 1,470 square miles
• Urban Population: 78.7%
• Rural Population: 21.3%
• Population 2000: 654,361
• Population 2005 (est): 691,648
• Median Income: $64,337
• Poverty Status: 6.4%
• Military Veterans: 11.8%
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 83.5% White; 5.0% Black; 2.2% Asian; 0.2% Native Am.; 0.0% Hawaiian; 1.2% Two+ races; 0.2% Other; 7.7% Hispanic Origin;
• Ancestry: 17.6% Italian%; 16.5% Irish%; 10.6% German%;
• Occupation: Blue collar 18.5%; White collar 67.2%; Gray collar 14.3%;