From my Op-Ed in The Examiner News's collection of newspapers:
In these times of such polarizing extremes – when too many of us are quick to paint an individual’s idiotic actions with a broad ideological brush and too many of us refuse to look beyond each other’s presidential candidate of choice to be inclusive or generous to our neighbors – we are fortunate to have an elected representative like Assemblyman Kevin Byrne.
I have worked for most of my professional career in and around Assemblyman Byrne’s district. I’ve known him since before he entertained running for office and I have watched him put in the hard work for our community both before and after he was elected.
Kevin and I don’t agree on every issue, but I trust him to represent our community because he has stuck to the principles and values many of us share and has opposed the dangers of extremism. He has a proven track record and is someone who has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to work across the aisle to get things done for us – and that is part of the reason he has received so much support from third party and non-affiliated voters as well as more than 20 labor organizations.
While many public office candidates pander to the periphery of their party, Kevin has refused to bow to extremist factions while focusing on delivering results for our community. For example, when the New York City Young Republicans made an absurd joke that labeled Labor Day as a “fake communist holiday,” Kevin was unsparing in his criticism, and showed us that he is loyal first to his community’s values, calling their statement “an embarrassment to hard-working Republicans everywhere (both union and non-union).”
In Albany, where any objective measure of our elected officials shows that the far majority are loyal only to themselves, where the far majority voted this year to abdicate their financial duties – because they could not be bothered to put in the hard work when the circumstances of 2020 demanded hard work – and where the far majority pander to the polarizing extremes at the periphery of their party, we need more people in government like Kevin who are candid, thoughtful and committed to serving the community.
I invite you to learn more about Kevin at his website, Byrne4NY.com. And this November, I ask my neighbors to stand against political extremism by voting with me for Kevin Byrne for state Assembly.
Dan Branda is the Republican candidate for Westchester County Executive in 2021.
Source: The Examiner News