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A certified public
accountant from Lake Placid is joining the list of candidates
seeking John McHugh’s seat in Congress.
Doug Hoffman is
traveling across the North Country today to announce that he’s
forming an exploratory committee to seek the Republican endorsement
to run for the 23rd Congressional District.
Hoffman, who would
have to move into the district if he gets the endorsement, says his
financial expertise is the most important quality he can offer the
voters. “I think that at this time with our economy and the crisis
we’re facing with the recession and everything else that’s going on,
we need financial people in Washington,” he said. “As I saw the
candidates come forward I didn’t see anybody that had the abilities
that I have in that area.”
Hoffman’s 32 year
career in finance began when he worked in Connecticut for Price
Waterhouse & Company. He returned to the North Country to serve as
the corporate comptroller for the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic
Organizing Committee and later started his own CPA practice. He
currently is a managing partner of Dragon Benware Crowley and
Company, a CPA firm with offices in Lake Placid, Malone, Canton,
Massena and Watertown.
His only political
experience has been as a member of the Lake Placid-North Elba
Republican Committee, where he served as chairman from 2002 to 2006.
But Hoffman doesn’t
think he’s at a disadvantage because he’s never held an elected
office. He pointed to the success of venture capitalist Scott
Murphy who won the 20th Congressional District seat in a special
election earlier this year. “It did certainly get me thinking in
that direction,” he said. “There’s some excellent candidates coming
forward, but I think that the business and financial skills I have
lend a lot to the people in the 23rd District.”
While he thinks the
economy is the biggest concern of the voters, Hoffman named border
security and support of Fort Drum as important issues, along with
the rising cost of health care.
A graduate of Saranac
Lake High School, Hoffman served in the U.S. Army Reserves and the
New York Army National Guard. He’s been a board member and
treasurer of the Adirondack Council of the Boy Scouts of America,
the Adirondack Economic Development Corporation and the Lake
Placid-Essex County Visitor’s Bureau. He’s currently the
treasurer-secretary of the Adirondack Medical Center Foundation,
serves on the hospital’s finance committee and is involved with
several other community organizations.
Hoffman has also
broadcast financial planning segments on WNBZ’s airwaves over the
last few years.
Hoffman is the second
local resident to announce he’s seeking the seat, which is expected
to become vacant if McHugh is confirmed as Secretary of the Army.
Franklin County Legislator Paul Maroun of Tupper Lake announced last
week that he’s seeking the support of county Republican chairmen.
A number of other
names have been mentioned as possible contenders on the Republican
and Democratic side. One of those candidates – State Senator Joe Griffo of Rome announced today he’s no longer interested in seeking
the Republican nomination.
Jim Ellis, chair of
the Franklin County Republican Committee, said the process of
picking McHugh’s replacement will be as open and transparent as
possible. “We’re not going to make the same mistakes that were made
in the neighboring congressional district, in their race,” Ellis
said. “I want to stress that the 11 county chairmen who make up the
23rd Congressional District’s Republican caucus are pretty adamant
about the fact that we want this as open as we can make it.”
The process will
begin with a series of four regional meetings taking place over two
to four weeks, although the dates, times and locations of those
gatherings have yet to be set.
Each candidate who
has submitted a letter to their home county chair will be given ten
minutes to speak. That will be followed by a question and answer
period, after which the media will be allowed to interview the
candidates.
Following the last
meeting, the county chairs will consult with their respective county
committees and then meet in a central location to select the
candidate they feel will best represent the district.
-Chris Knight, 6-16-09 |