NY-29: Dems Back Zeller

Which dude? This Dude:

Multiple Democratic sources now confirm that party chairs decided Monday night that Matthew Zeller is their candidate should a special election to replace Rep. Eric Massa take place. […]

Zeller, 28, is a Rochester area native with family throughout the 29th Congressional District and roots in the Southern Tier.  Zeller is an ’04 alum of Hamilton College and also earned master’s degrees in public administration and international relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in ’06 according to a recent news release from Hamilton College.

Also according to that release Zeller worked as an embedded combat mentor to the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police while on deployment in 2008.  Zeller, a friend tells me, got the urge to enlist in the Army following the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.  While attending college he was a member of the ROTC program.

Assuming David Paterson calls a special election (which seems to be an unlikely turn of events at this point, but you never know), Zeller will be the guy. However, if there’s no special, Zeller will still have to compete for the Democratic nomination in the September primary. At this point, it’s unclear if he’ll get any competition, but Monroe County Democratic Party spokesman Sean Hart is telling the Politico that the local parties are discouraging anyone from challenging Zeller.

I’m not sure what in particular gave Zeller the edge, but I’m looking forward to hearing more about him.

(Hat-tip: tietack)

31 thoughts on “NY-29: Dems Back Zeller”

  2. I found absolutely no information on this guy, other than the award page for the fellowship he received in ’04. From this article, I can’t tell if he is still in the military, or is on reserve status or what. This strikes me as a very odd selection.  

  3. have a great track record of picking candidates who seem grossly unqualified, then propelling them to a win.  I’ll wait and see on this one.

  4. His Linkedin profile suggests that he’s still part of the Army, as an independent contractor.

    This PDF http://insct.syr.edu/about_ins… suggests a background in counter-terrorism

    This Hamilton College bio is a little more detailed http://www.hamilton.edu/news/p…

    Zeller spoke extensively and quite critically of his experiences serving in the military. Before he left for his tour, Zeller trained for three months in Fort Riley, Kansas with about a dozen other men. In Kansas Zeller went through the army’s premier counter insurgency training, where he learned to train and mentor members of Afghanistan’s army. Though Zeller spoke fondly of the friendships that he built at Fort Riley, he says that the training he went through was practically useless, and everything valuable that he learned he had to learn on the ground in Afghanistan.

    and this sounds promising

    The solution to Afghanistan’s problems lies in education, Zeller said. Because the majority of the adults are uneducated and many are illiterate, it is near impossible to build a government that will be able to sustain the hardships that Afghanistan faces in the near future. Zeller thinks that the United States has to completely rethink its strategy and focus on securing villages and actually integrating American soldiers into the culture, so as to be seen more as allies and less as unwelcome guests.

  5. I’m trying to figure out the possibilities if Paterson decides not to call a special election for this seat between now and the general election. (Being fairly ignorant of NY election law, convoluted as that is).

    Obviously if there is no special election, the 29th goes without representation from March 2010 until January 2011 — that seems like a very long time, and one that has potential to hurt the Dems if they’re perceived as doing it for political reasons.

    But assuming that Paterson uses the concerns about money to not hold a stand-alone election, there are other possibilities.

    1. (Most likely) – Holding both a special election and a regular primary election on September 14th, the already scheduled primary day in New York. (This would be akin to the current situation in PA-12).

    That would mean the party committees would still nominate for the special election, but the primary nomination would be wide open. Assuming there is a clear winner in the special election, Zeller or Reed could be sworn in during September, and be there for the pre-election and lame duck sessions of Congress. Depending on the outcomes of the special and the primaries, it could mean a different person being elected in the special election and carrying a party’s nomination in November.

    2. (Less likely) – If for some reason there is no special election on September 14th, there could still be both a special and a general election on the ballot in November. This would allow the district to have representation for November, December and the first part of January.  (This would be similar to the simultaneous special and regular elections in TX-22 when Delay stepped down.)

    If this takes place it isn’t clear if the party committees would still nominate for the special election, or if that would also happen in the September primary. One potential advantage (for all parties) is that if different candidates win the nomination and the party committee nod is that might be able to pressure the party committee nominee to step aside and replace with the primary winner. (It might also allow closer coordination with NY’s significant third parties in picking candidates – Working Families, Conservative, Independence)

    3. (least likely) – Allowing the seat to go vacant until January by not holding any special election. The problem with this approach is that it would probably produce a local backlash and guarantee the Republicans take the seat in November (and maybe spill over into other upstate races).

    —

    Holding simultaneous special and regularly scheduled elections can be confusing for voters, but there are plenty of precedents. Is there any reason this wouldn’t happen in NY?

    I also suspect that, in the end, Paterson will end up calling a special election for sometime in early summer – the politics of leaving a seat open that long seem pretty bad to me.

    Reed has got to be considered the favourite — but so were Tedisco and Scozzafava, so we know a lot can happen.

    BTW – Do we know what the WFP, Conservatives and Independence Party are planning to do in this election? Will Reed have the Conservative and/or the Independence Party ballot line? I was under the impression that he might be too moderate for the Conservatives and the tea-bagging set. It would help us a great deal if there were another candidate running on the Conservative line, splitting the right wing vote.

  7. scream sacrificial lamb? No previous political experience, no ability to self fund, he is not even 30 for heaven’s sakes. Maybe it is just me.  

  9. Hate to burst your bubble but IIRC it has been the County Chairs making the decisions.  Different district, different party chairs.  Who knows whether these guys are as savy as the last couple groups that have been put to the test.  

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