Dear John,

I know that our campaign sends a lot of emails, often asking for your help with the campaign. And there will be many more as we work hard to finish this quarter strong. But this is not one of those emails. Instead, this is the first edition of our quarterly Riley Report, where we’ll give you an update on our campaign.

But first, please know that there’s an important reason why our campaign sends so many fundraising emails: it’s because our campaign does not accept any corporate PAC money, instead relying on grassroots contributions from everyday folks. I’d rather earn $5, $10, or $25 from thousands of grassroots supporters than accept a handful of big checks from a few corporate PACs.

And there’s an important reason for that, too: it’s because I’m going to Congress to work for you, not them. I believe the corrupting influence of corporate money is the root of all evil in our politics.

Few things make me as angry as when I hear from seniors who can’t afford prescription drugs (even while Big Pharma rakes in record profits and doles out money to politicians). Or when I hear from little kids who are scared to go to school (as the NRA pays politicians to vote against common sense gun safety reforms). Or when I hear from consumers who pay too much and get too little for Internet service (as cable companies pay politicians to protect their monopolies). Or when big fossil fuel companies gave my opponent a big campaign check just weeks before he voted to slash funding for clean energy projects. The list goes on.

So, look, I wish we didn’t have to send so many fundraising emails–but I’d rather run a grassroots campaign than one bankrolled by corporate PACs. This is a campaign by everyday folks, for everyday folks–not special interests–and that’s how I think it should be.

And, thanks to your support, I’m proud to report that this campaign is off to a great start. Here are some highlights from the second quarter of 2023:

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Josh launched his campaign with strong support from Democratic leaders, organized labor, and pro-Democracy groups.

You can watch Josh’s campaign video here. Shortly after launching his campaign on April 11, Josh announced support from over twenty chairs and vice chairs of County Democratic Committees across the district. They wrote that “Josh ran an exceptionally strong campaign in 2022, turning out a higher percentage of Democratic voters than any other House campaign in the State while also winning substantial Republican and Independent support.”

Josh has also been endorsed by pro-Democracy groups (like the Voter Protection Project, Long Run PAC, and Democrats Serve), the Chenango County Democratic Committee, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (which was the first labor endorsement in this race). Stay tuned as we will have more endorsements to announce soon.

Josh’s campaign raised over $500,000 from over 5,000 contributors within the first 50 days of launching the campaign.

Just fifty days after launching his campaign, Josh announced having raised over $500,000, with the vast majority of those contributions at $25 or less. Over 5,000 people contributed to the campaign, and they came from every county in the district and every state in the country. While Marc Molinaro raised just $217,000 from individuals in the first three months of his campaign, Josh raised more than double that amount from individuals in just the first fifty days of his campaign. (Most of Molinaro’s funding came from corporate PACs, Big Oil, and GOP leadership.)

IN CONGRESS

Josh took a stand against House Republicans’ reckless vote to cut investments in clean-energy manufacturing across Upstate New York.

When Marc Molinaro voted for Kevin McCarthy’s reckless Default on America Act, Josh made clear his opposition to the bill, which would slash funding for clean energy manufacturing initiatives across Upstate New York. You can read Josh’s op-ed on the bill here.

Josh is running for Congress to revitalize the local economy and restore America’s place as a world leader in advanced manufacturing. That’s why he supports federal investments in some of the most exciting projects happening across the region.

Why did Molinaro vote against those projects? It’s probably not a coincidence that he is bankrolled by the same Big Oil interests who will benefit the most if America stays dependent on fossil fuels instead of transitioning to the clean-energy future we’re building in Upstate New York. (Petroleum giant Koch Industries is among his biggest donors, and Big Oil spent over $50 million for Molinaro to be in the House majority.)

As Josh wrote, “Instead of selling us out to the highest bidder, our elected officials should buy into the promise and potential of Upstate New York and support federal investments in clean-energy advanced manufacturing.”

Josh called out Marc Molinaro for voting to cut veterans’ benefits and then lying to voters about it.

On April 26, Marc Molinaro joined George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Green, and the most extreme elements of the Republican Party in voting to cut veterans’ benefits. Then, facing an outpouring of public criticism, Molinaro lied about his vote, falsely claiming that he would not support cuts to veterans’ benefits.

Josh laid out the truth for voters: Molinaro voted for legislation that definitively cuts veterans’ benefits. Section 201 of Kevin McCarthy’s Default on America Act would have cut billions of dollars from the Veterans Medical and Health Care Fund. That is money that was intended to provide healthcare to homeless veterans, upgrades to housing facilities for veterans, employment and training service for veterans, and to reduce the backlog of veterans’ claims. The bill also mandates sweeping, across-the-board cuts to federal spending without excluding veterans from them.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Molinaro’s vote would slash 30 million outpatient visits for veterans, and it would increase the disability backlog by 134,000 claims.

That’s why Veterans of Foreign Wars stated they were “gravely concerned” about the legislation, and the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America said the vote “sends veterans a clear message: your care and benefits are up for negotiation.”

Josh issued the following statement in response to Molinaro’s vote: “Veterans deserve support from the country they served, and NY-19 deserves the truth from the Member of Congress who is supposed to serve them. But Marc Molinaro callously voted to cut veterans’ benefits and then he falsely denied having done so. It is the latest example of Molinaro saying one thing (he supports veterans) and doing another (selling them out).”

Josh’s grandfather served in the U.S. Army, and Josh has a proven track record of advocating for veterans. As counsel on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Josh led efforts to advance legislation that funded programs for veterans with PTSD, and he organized committee hearings to hold financial institutions accountable for ripping off servicemembers and their families. As an attorney in private legal practice, Josh represented veterans services organizations in litigation to cut through red tape to get veterans the benefits they earned.

As wildfire smoke blanketed Upstate New York, Josh called for urgent action on climate change while Marc Molinaro said this wasn’t the right moment to address it.

As Upstate New Yorkers faced historically bad air quality in June, Marc Molinaro appeared on Fox News to say to “this isn’t the moment” to focus on climate change. As a headline in The New Republic headline read, “GOP Congressman Says It’s Too Soon to Talk About Climate Change, Amid Raging Wildfires.”

After seeing Molinaro’s statements, Josh issued the following statement: “Climate change is an existential threat to my son’s generation and beyond, and it needs to be addressed with urgency and seriousness. We are past time to confront this challenge, and I will fight every day to protect Upstate New York’s environment.”

Josh laid out a detailed plan to improve ethics in government, including by stopping politicians from raising their own pay without voters’ approval.

In his first vote in Congress (following the fifteen votes he cast for Kevin McCarthy to be speaker, that is), Marc Molinaro voted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, the body charged with stopping politicians from engaging in fraud, insider trading and campaign finance violations —coincidentally (perhaps?), many of the things George Santos has been accused of doing.

This may have been welcome news to ethically challenged politicians, who will have an even easier time using their offices to serve their own self-interests instead of serving the people they represent. But what we really need is more ethics in government, not less. That is why Josh proposed the following actions, among others:

First, Josh called on Congress to restore the Office of Congressional Ethics’ ability to investigate wrongdoing by politicians, including insider trading and campaign finance violations. And then go further: Increase funding for the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Unit to root out corruption. Strengthen the Federal Elections Commission, which has been neutered by politics and budget cuts. Prohibit lawmakers from trading stocks while in office. Impose term limits.

Second, Josh called for a ban on corporate political action committees, which contribute millions of dollars to candidates who vote for corporations’ interests instead of your interests. Cable companies pay politicians who limit your choice of providers. Pharmaceutical companies pay politicians who keep prescription drug prices high. Oil companies pay politicians who deny climate change and enable price gouging. Banks pay politicians who turn a blind eye to reckless risks.

All of this fills politicians’ campaign coffers and boosts the corporations’ profits — but it hurts working families who are sold out in the process. Josh believes we need a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the disastrous Supreme Court case that opened the floodgates to dark money in politics.

Third, we’ve recently seen a concerning trend of politicians raising their own pay without meaningful input from the taxpayers who foot the bill. In Congress, a little-noticed rule change that was passed after November’s election provides federal lawmakers with what amounts to a $34,000 pay raise. Meanwhile, in Albany, politicians called a special session just days before Christmas to give themselves a 30 percent raise, making them the highest paid state legislators in the country, with an annual salary that is more than three times the state’s per-capita income.

In the real world, pay raises come from your employer (ideally through collective bargaining), not from your fiat. And let’s remember: politicians (are supposed to) work for the people. Therefore, Josh believes the law should prohibit politician pay raises unless they are approved by voters. At a minimum, that means politicians’ pay raises should happen in the period immediately before elections (when the public has a chance to respond at the ballot box) instead of immediately after elections.

And under no circumstances should politicians get a pay raise that’s more than the annual cost-of-living-adjustments available to seniors on Social Security. If our seniors aren’t getting a raise, then politicians sure as hell shouldn’t either.

Josh called for George Santos to be removed from Congress–while Marc Molinaro voted to protect him.

In mid-May, House Democrats filed a motion to expel George Santos from Congress. If just five Republicans supported the motion, then Santos would have been gone. But Marc Molinaro voted to send George Santos to the Ethics Committee instead of sending him packing from Congress. This was a delay tactic designed to protect Santos and preserve House Republicans’ slim majority.

Josh issued the following statement in response: “The only thing more embarrassing than George Santos is the lengths to which Marc Molinaro is going to protect him. This is the latest example of Molinaro voting however Kevin McCarthy tells him to vote, not how Upstate New Yorkers want him to vote. Whereas Molinaro voted to keep Santos in Congress, I would have requested a vote to expel him. The challenges facing this country are far too important for this nonsense.”

Molinaro’s vote to protect Santos was the latest development in a cozy relationship between the two freshmen GOP New York politicians. On March 31, 2022, Molinaro’s campaign cashed a $1,000 check from George Santos. Then, on January 9, 2023, Molinaro voted to weaken the Ethics Office responsible for investigating fraudsters like Santos.

ON THE TRAIL

Josh celebrated Pride Month with a parade in Hudson.

Josh joined friends (and ate lots of Baklava) at the Greek Festival in Vestal.

Josh supported our vibrant arts community at a fundraiser for the Woodstock Film Festival.

Josh met with seniors in Ithaca and Endicott to talk about retirement security.

Josh attended the Cortland County Democratic Committee’s spring dinner.

Josh met with the Greene County Democratic Committee in Cairo, where he heard an excellent briefing from Planned Parenthood’s Hudson Valley Chapter.

Josh attended the Democratic Rural Conference’s annual conference, which supports Democrats in rural communities.

Josh rallied for Starbucks workers who have been retaliated against for exercising their right to form a union.

Josh supported local candidates in Chatham, Walton, and Binghamton.

During down time, Josh and his family had fun at the Ithaca Farmers Market and a Rumble Ponies game.

Josh joined volunteers for a spring canvass kick-off in Vestal.