by Kathleen Hayek
Some long-time Democrats are conflicted about voting for Josh Riley; others have vowed not to support him. I understand and support the dissent on some of his votes and public statements. Nipping at our representatives’ heels is what keeps them aware of what matters most to us. Keeping up the pressure on our representatives to do what we want to be done is a crucial democratic responsibility.
Voting is an entirely different, but equally important, democratic responsibility. And in 2026, we must handle both of them well.
I’m not just the Chair of the Delaware County Democratic Committee; I am also a private person with a moral conscience. While moral decisions are complex and often fall along a broad continuum, elections generally offer a strictly binary choice. One vote – or the lack of one—inevitably tips the scale toward one candidate or another. There is no neutral position and no gray area of choice between one option or the other. There is, especially in this 2026 election, from local to national, no “maybe”, no “abstain” choice that works. And herein lies the most difficult part of elections in a democracy—the lack of middle ground, and the necessity of the smaller sum of us yielding to the larger sum of us on the choice of path to the greater goal.
For me, it comes down to 80%. Life rarely offers me 100% of what I want, and nothing ever pleases me 100% of the time. No elected official I’ve supported has ever delivered 100% of what I want, but in a practical world, I look for the candidate and the platform most likely to reduce harm and strive for the greater amount of good for the larger number of people. I look for the candidate most likely to, in the end, be persuadable to my way of thinking on the issues I care about.
There may be a time when making a statement by abstaining or voting for a third candidate would make sense, but this vote is definitely not that time. In the 2026 vote, the decision is not just between this candidate or that. It’s between regaining our democracy or allowing chaos to prevail. It is at all levels of government, but most clearly seen in the CD19 race.
One candidate for NY-19 is opposed to abortion, uninterested in environmentalism, and totally supportive of the Trump-MAGA agenda. I can predict that he will vote for enlarged military budgets and against food supplements for children. The Social Security Trust Fund is projected to run dry in 2032. Without legislation before then to preserve benefits, benefits will automatically be cut by 22%. Will this candidate vote against his party to preserve Social Security?
The other candidate, an incumbent, is not a single-issue voter, and neither am I. I look at his record in its entirety and compare him to the only available alternative. He is strongly pro-choice and has worked to lower energy costs, restore the Voting Rights Act, overturn Citizens United, and help farmers.
He voted against the ugly OBBB that literally robbed the poor to give to the rich. Unfortunately, there were too few Democrats to stop this horrible law. If this November election brings a Democratic majority to Congress, we can stop the next devasting act. But if NY-19 flips Republican, a Democratic majority is unlikely. There will be no block to the hate-filled agenda that is tearing our nation—and our community—apart.
We here in quiet Delaware County have the opportunity to cast a vote that may affect the entire country. I will cast my vote for Josh Riley. And I won’t stop there; I’ll vote for all the Democrats. I’ll vote for Row A—all the way.