ALBANY, N.Y. — Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand promoted education for veterans, and Republican rival Joe DioGuardi warned about government debt Wednesday in separate upstate New York swings in the final, hectic week before the election. The multi-stop tours came as a Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters showed Gillibrand with 57 percent of the vote compared to 34 percent...
View full sizeU.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (right), D-N.Y., and Republican challenger Joseph DioGuardi shake hands after their Oct. 21 debate in Troy. ALBANY, N.Y. — Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand promoted education for veterans, and Republican rival Joe DioGuardi warned about government debt Wednesday in separate upstate New York swings in the final, hectic week before the election.
The multi-stop tours came as a Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters showed Gillibrand with 57 percent of the vote compared to 34 percent for DioGuardi. It was the third poll in a week to show Gillibrand with a lead of at least 18 points.
DioGuardi, making a campaign stop at an Albany-area dry cleaners, insisted: “Don’t believe those polls.” He said tea party activists told him they are skewing results by telling pollsters they will vote Democrat on Tuesday.
The former congressman from Westchester County who is crisscrossing the state in a recreational vehicle, pressed his campaign theme that too much federal spending and debt is threatening the nation’s security. “I’m trying to be the Paul Revere with the bell,” he said, standing outside Capitol Dry Cleaners with the owner. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years to say, ’There’s an iceberg there, don’t you see it?’”
Behind in the polls and fundraising, DioGuardi has aggressively attacked Gillibrand in the closing days of the campaign about her record since being appointed in January 2009 to fill the remainder of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate term. On Wednesday, DioGuardi said the job creation bills she has promoted in the Senate have not gone anywhere.
The Gillibrand campaign fired back by saying DioGuardi’s support for extending all of former President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, including for the highest earners, would cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars. “Senator Gillibrand’s No. 1 priority has been to work with small businesses to create good-paying jobs and cut taxes for middle class families,” said campaign spokesman Glen Caplin.
Gillibrand is making stops in Syracuse, Rochester and the Buffalo area to promote legislation she says will help veterans find jobs by expanding G.I. Bill educational aid. The legislation, among other things, would provide new benefits for National Guard members and Reservists deployed during domestic emergencies and expand tuition benefits to cover the cost of public, four-year schools.
At a stop in the Buffalo area, Gillibrand said her focus is on earning the support of New Yorkers, not on polls. “This election is about who we fight for, and I’ve developed a strong record of fighting for jobs and how we create jobs in a tough economy,” she said.
The upstate vote is important to statewide candidates since 39 percent of the state’s registered voters live in the region.
Jay Townsend, the Republican challenger to Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, also was scheduled to campaign Wednesday in western New York. The Quinnipiac poll showed Schumer with twice the support of Townsend, 64 percent to 32 percent.
The poll surveyed 673 likely voters from last Monday through Saturday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.