“Better Know a District” is more like a warning to one New York Democrat than it is a segment on the “Colbert Report.”
Aaron Woolf, a documentary filmmaker, was endorsed mid-February by county Democrats to run for the U.S. House in New York’s 21st Congressional District. Woolf’s hometown credentials for the upstate seat are that he reportedly owns a part-time home in the district that’s an hour closer to Montreal, Quebec, than the district’s major city, Watertown — a place he admitted he hadn’t visited before last Friday.
“This is where my heart is,” he said in response to a question about his permanent residency, an early issue of Woolf’s campaign, before a gaggle of reporters in Watertown. Someone followed up and asked directly if he had ever been to the city of more than 27,000.
“I have never been to Watertown before,” he said.
Watertown is next door to Fort Drum, a U.S. Army instillation with a civilian workforce of nearly 5,000. The base’s website says it’s the largest employer in northern New York, making it integral to the region’s economy. Yet when asked about it in the context of military cuts and its potential to house a missile defense site for the East Coast, Woolf punted.
“I think I’d really like to keep policy stuff to when we officially launch our campaign. We’re gonna start that in a couple weeks, and you guys will all be there,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
Republicans pounced on the responses.
“Woolf should be embarrassed that he deiced to run for Congress before learning about the issues important to North Country residents and before so much as setting foot in Watertown, which is the district’s largest city,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ian Prior said.
The Democratic candidate has earned a reputation locally for his avoidance of the media since being designated the party’s nominee almost one month ago. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reported him as saying he was more of a “press release kind of guy” at that time.
Woolf, who is running to replace the retiring Democratic Rep. Bill Owens, directed the Peabody-winning documentary “King Corn,” which tracks two friends who move to Iowa to grow an acre of corn in an effort to learn more about the crop’s role in American society. He also operates an organic food market in Brooklyn.
Republican county chairmen have largely rallied behind Elise Stefanik, a former George W. Bush administration aide and debate coach for vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), as Woolf’s opponent. Stefanik, 29, works for her family’s plywood business in the district.
