U.S. Congressional District 17
The 17th Congressional District covers areas in the Bronx, Westchester,
and Rockland Counties.
Representative:
Eliot Engel (Dem/WF)
Challengers:
Kevin Brawley (Con)
Matthew Brennan (Rep)
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Commentary by Matthew Brennan:
Solving New York’s
Electricity Crunch
Commentary by Eliot Engel:
Reforming a Tax on the Middle Class
Campaign Trail:
09/10/04
The Daily News endorsed Eliot Engel in the Democratic
primary, saying he "understands that building a
democracy in Baghdad would be a key step in fighting
terror and building peace in the Mideast. Engel's
credentials also include staunchly supporting Israel's
right to defend itself and successfully pushing to
impose sanctions on Syria, a longtime terror sponsor.
He sees himself as a hawk on the federal deficit and
voted against the budget-busting Medicare drug plan."
His opponent, Kevin McAdams, is "well-meaning and
intelligent, but he should start smaller," the paper
said. (Daily News)
09/08/04
Representative Eliot Engel is demanding his Democratic
primary challenger, Kevin McAdams, denounce the
Uniformed Firefighters Association's endorsement of
President George W. Bush. McAdams, a New York City
firefighter, is a member of the union and served as
its treasurer and a trustee of its pension board.
(Journal News)
09/01/04
Both Eliot Engel and Kevin McAdams picked up an array
of union endorsements in their Democratic primary
contest for Congress. (Riverdale Riview)
8/28/04
The United Federation of Teachers, the New York State
United Teachers, and the National Education
Association Fund for Children and Public Education
announced their endorsements of Congressman Eliot
Engel for re-election.(Yonkers Tribune)
8/26/04
While most of the attention in the Democratic primary
contest in the 17th district has focused on Eliot
Engel and Kevin McAdams, a third candidate - Jessica
Flagg - is also running. The 52-year-old Riverdale
resident, who was active in Dennis Kucinich's campaign
for president, says she doesn't have as much money as
the other candidates but is working hard to get her
activist message across. The key issue for her is the
war in Iraq, which she opposes. ( Norwood News)
8/23/04
City Councilmember Larry Seabrook, Assemblyman Carl
Heastie and Democratic District Leaders Alonzo
deCastro and Edith Baldwin have endorsed Kevin McAdams
in his bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Representative
Eliot Engel. They faulted Engel for closing a district
office and for his support for the war in Iraq.
Seabrook ran unsuccessfully against Engel in 2000.
(Yonkers Tribune)
7/23/04
U.S. Representative Eliot Engel and Democratic
challenger Kevin McAdams are each demanding the other
return money from corporate contributions. Engel wants
McAdams, a New York City firefighter, to give back
$80,000 that his campaign received from companies
investing firefighters' pension money. In a written
statement, Engel said that accepting the money was a
conflict of interest. McAdams said he had done nothing wrong and asked Engel
to return more than $300,000 from companies overseen
by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which
Engel is a member. McAdams said, "We'll make it a
no-dollar campaign, and we'll see who wins." Campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission last week showed Engel has raised
more than twice as much as McAdams - $700,588 to
$315,756, respectively. (The Journal News)
07/22/04
An incumbent congressman and his firefighter challenger traded charges
yesterday over campaign contributions. A Daily News investigation found that
Firefighter Kevin McAdams, former treasurer of the Uniformed Firefighters
Association and member of the union's pension board, received $80,000 in
campaign contributions from investment firms handling the fire union fund.
The firms pulled down six-figure fees for investing $4.9 billion in assets
from the fund, which pays out retirement, disability and death benefits.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) said Tuesday that "the only ethical thing" for
McAdams, who served as one of the fund's trustees until he resigned in
March, to do is return all of the money. But McAdams yesterday denied any
potential conflict of interest, and said that Engel might take heed of his
own words when it comes to campaign contributions and conflict of interest.
(Daily News)
07/20/04
The battle for the seat in the Bronx-Westchester-Rockland 17th Congressional
District is starting to live up to its billing as one of the nation's most
hotly contested House Democratic primaries. While challenger Kevin McAdams
accuses longtime incumbent Eliot Engel of spending too little time in his
home district, a Daily News investigation shows McAdams' "grassroots"
campaign has pulled in more than $80,000 from investment firms from New York
to Los Angeles. Some $30,000 of that total comes from individuals linked to
firms who got to know McAdams when he was a firefighters' union official
serving as trustee to the fire pension fund. (Daily News)
7/16/04
Democratic Representative Eliot Engel had raised
$700,588 as of June 30 -- nearly double the amount
raised by New York City firefighter Kevin McAdams,
according to new campaign disclosures. A little more
than half of the $151,365 that the congressman raised
in April, May, and June came from labor unions,
telecommunications companies and other special
interests affected by Engel's legislative work,
according to reports filed at the Federal Election
Commission this week. Political action committees,
many of them based in Washington, D.C., pumped $84,250
into Engel's coffers in the second quarter while
individuals contributed $67,115. (Gannett News Service)
7/15/04
While it is difficult to defeat an incumbent member of
Congress, firefighter Kevin McAdams is not a total
dark horse in his bid to unseat Eliot Engel. McAdams
could benefit from the redrawing of the district to
extend north of The Bronx and he is trying to use
Engel's incumbency against him.
(Norwood News)
6/1/04
Representative Eliot Engel will face two challengers
in a Democratic primary. He will face local activist
Jessica Flagg and Kevin McAdams, a former firefighter,
in the September 14 primary. Flagg, who is running
after Engel from the left, has decided to run because
she is disturbed by the direction in which the nation
is heading, according to a campaign statement.
McAdams, a former treasurer of the Uniformed
Firefighters Association and a veteran of the Navy,
has been much more critical of Engel, criticizing him
on the war in Iraq and vowing, much like Flagg, to
bring change to the district.
(Riverdale Review)