Senator Oberacker Announces Run for Congress in New York-19

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
SCHENEVUS

State Senator Peter Oberacker, a Republican, announced his candidacy for the hotly contested 19th New York Congressional District the morning of Monday, October 6 at the Schenevus fire station. He is challenging incumbent Rep. Josh Riley, a Democrat. Oberacker is the first major challenger to declare their candidacy.

After being introduced by New York State Assemblyman Chris Tague, Oberacker told the around 30 assembled supporters he made the decision to run after consulting his family, who he thanked.

“There really are two things you should never see being made: laws and sausage,” Oberacker said. “And I do know both,” he added, referencing his father’s business as a sausage maker.

Oberacker described his story as being the American Dream, “growing up and learning the values of hard work and dedication, as I did from my father, the story of my mother instilling in me a sense of community and service.” Oberacker’s mother was also a local elected official.

The 19th District, stretching from the Ithaca area to the Massachusetts border and containing Otsego County, was decided by less than 10,000 votes in 2024. In a closely divided Congress, the district has maintained national attention and will likely draw millions of dollars of out-of-district investment on both sides.

Oberacker’s first elected office was as a Maryland Town Board member, followed by two terms as the town’s supervisor. He won the 51st State Senate district in 2020, and re-election in 2022 and 2024. The district includes all of Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie, and Sullivan counties, and some of Broome, Chenango, and Ulster counties. He currently serves as the ranking member for the State Senate’s Transportation and Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders standing committees.

“Every step of the way,” Oberacker said, he was focused on “serving the people, not political insiders, not special interests, and not career bureaucrats.” He said he “fought to protect taxpayers and stop Albany from making their lives less affordable.”

Oberacker emphasized his opposition to New York’s bail reform law, and opposition to utility rate hikes “even when my party told me not to.” He also highlighted his advocacy for whole milk to be in schools, and against “the Hochul energy plan that bans gas stoves.” When it made sense, he added, he “worked across the aisle” to draft legislation to ban “dangerous food additives like red dye #40.”

Assemblyman Brian Miller, Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr., and Otsego County Board Chair Edwin Frazier Jr. were in attendance at the campaign launch. Oberacker also attended two other launch events later in the day, one in Delhi and another in Monticello. Oberacker’s campaign said he will be attending more events throughout the week.

Oberacker’s speech contrasted his relationship to the area with Rep. Riley’s, accusing Riley of being inauthentic and “a rubber stamp for the extreme left.” He said he was running to bring “common sense, or as I like to call it, country sense” to Congress, criticizing Rep. Riley’s votes against removing tax on tips, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” positions on immigration, and more.

“Here’s something Mr. Riley and his extreme little D.C. cronies don’t understand,” Oberacker said. “Wearing flannel does not make you a farmer. And putting on a Carhartt can’t hide who you really are.”

On his Instagram and X accounts at press time, and in his campaign launch ad, Oberacker described himself as being “born and raised” upstate. A campaign news release said he was a “lifelong” resident. But AllOtsego’s reporting on his first State Senate campaign in 2020 shows Oberacker was born in Merrick, on Long Island. Also, in his opening statement at a recorded 2020 candidate debate at Cayuga Community College, Oberacker said his father “was a sausage maker who moved to Upstate New York when we were about six-years-old.”

The campaign did not respond to AllOtsego’s e-mailed requests for comment, but did tell Politico that Oberacker has been in the area since at least kindergarten. In comments to Politico, campaign consultant Vince Casale said there is “no discrepancy” and that “Peter has spent his life committed to his home town and upstate NY.” Casale said “We’d be happy to compare roots with Mr. Riley anytime.”

“Soil is our common ground,” Oberacker said in his speech, a phrase also appearing in his campaign launch ad. “Together, rooted in that same soil, we can build a stronger New York, and a stronger America,” he closed.

After Oberacker greeted supporters and took photos, AllOtsego asked if he could answer press questions and for his reaction to the ongoing government shutdown. Oberacker walked away quietly as Lynn Krogh, a campaign consultant, told AllOtsego he would not be taking questions.

Shortly after Oberacker’s announcement, Democrats launched critiques. Rep. Riley’s campaign team posted a website, AlbanyOberacker.com, accusing the state senator of being an “Albany insider” who is “NYSEG’s senator, not ours.” It cites recent campaign donations from the utility company and Oberacker’s vote against legislation that would prevent utilities from imposing late fees or cutting service during a Public Service Commission investigation into a utility.

The national attention arrived, too. Calling the state senator “shady” and “a corporate sellout,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of Democratic members of the House of Representatives, issued a statement saying that Oberacker “has repeatedly chosen corporate lobbyists, polluters, and utility companies over” constituents. “From cashing checks from utility lobbyists to siding with Big Ag and polluters that hurt family farms and poisoned local water, Oberacker has made it clear who he works for—and it’s not hardworking Upstate families.”

Recently, Oberacker announced his intention to introduce a “Ratepayer Bill of Rights” in Albany. According to a press release from his office, if passed the legislation would create a “permanent ban on political contributions from regulated utility companies to elected officials or oversight committees” and a “Utility Consumer Advocate Office to stand up for customer interests,” among other provisions.

Monday evening, Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican representing the Hudson Valley, posted on X that Oberacker will “make a phenomenal Congressman” and that he is “Proud to support my friend.”