Hayworth far outpacing Di Carlo in funding
| By Chris Mckenna Times Herald-Record Published: 2:00 AM – 09/08/10 Republican candidate Nan Hayworth and her supporters have barnstormed Orange County in recent weeks, greeting groggy commuters, business owners, local officials and others as her yearlong quest to unseat Rep. John Hall enters its homestretch. But before Hayworth can take on the two-term Democratic incumbent in what is expected to be a competitive race on Nov. 2, she faces a primary on Tuesday against Neil Di Carlo, a Putnam County resident waging a long-shot bid for the Republican nomination in New York’s 19th Congressional District. Hayworth, a Westchester County doctor and political newcomer, has 10 times as much campaign money as Di Carlo, a paid staff and the support of rank-and-file Republicans. At a Republican convention to choose among four potential Hall challengers in May, Hayworth won 29,336 weighted votes; Di Carlo got 77. Di Carlo protests that many Republican committees never interviewed him before that vote. He shrugs off Hayworth’s war chest and touts the support of the tea party and anti-abortion activists who carried his election petitions. “Just because you’ve been campaigning for a year doesn’t mean you’re entitled to something,” he said of his opponent. Both candidates — who will debate at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Washingtonville High School — are fiscal conservatives who pledge to cut spending and taxes and put the brakes on Democrats’ legislative agenda. Hayworth wants Congress to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, end the alternative-minimum and estate taxes and cut taxes on capital gains, corporate income and dividends. Di Carlo proposes a 10 percent “flat tax” for all individuals and an immediate, 10 percent funding cut for all federal agencies, to be followed by deeper reductions. He has pounced on Hayworth for suggesting an “alternative maximum tax” that limits a taxpayer’s federal, state and local taxes to 49 percent of his or her income. Di Carlo calls that rate “inexcusable.” Hayworth counters that it was merely a concept, meant to illustrate that taxes should have an upper limit instead of a lower one. “The idea is that the government has to live within its means,” she said. Di Carlo has also gone after Hayworth for supporting abortion rights and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He opposes both. Hayworth says she opposes partial-birth abortion and believes illegal immigrants should be allowed to pursue citizenship only after paying a fine and getting in line behind legal immigrants. cmckenna@th-record.com |