Keith Price is the Libertarian candidate for New York’s 22nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is originally from Owego, New York and earned a degree from Broome Community College.
1. What do you see as the biggest concerns of people in this district? How do you propose to address those concerns?
“I believe that the biggest concern in the district is the feeling of lack of real representation. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans are fully supported by the voters because of actions they’ve taken in [Washington, D.C.], things they’ve said and done. Meaning, if the winner of this election wins at 42 percent, that means the majority of the district feels unrepresented by their elected official. Unlike my opponents, I don’t answer to big party leadership, I only answer to the voters and the Constitution, thus I can actually work with all sides to get work done for our district. Therefore, the easy solution is to elect me, a candidate that isn’t a [Washington, D.C.] insider.”
2. What is your plan to address systemic racism in the United States? What needs to change at the federal level?
“I’m not 100 percent sure our country is systemically racist … But there are definitely factions and portions of our government that have outdated racist policies in place. The simple solution is to work with community leaders, government and local departments to come up with training programs that are intended for that community. Once we stop using one-size-fits-all policies, we can find areas of concern and fix them. There is no legislation that is going to fix the problem overnight, but with hard work and communication, we can fix things.”
3. What do you think should be done to address climate change? What steps do you think should be implemented to address this issue?
“In my opinion, there isn’t enough hard data to make any big sweeping changes in legislation, however, I feel we should take a few common-sense steps to help our environment while science determines the facts of the matter. Once we have the facts, I believe that industry and the free markets should adjust themselves, and they should hold themselves accountable to our environment.”
4. What would you do in your capacity to combat the COVID-19 pandemic? How do you think another pandemic like this one could be prevented from happening again?
“I’d start by stopping all one-size-fits-all federal policies. I’d allow each community to determine their needs and inform the government. Once a community has asked for aid and provided the government with their needs, all we must do then is provide them. To recover economically from this, I’ve been calling on the government to implement an immediate payroll and income tax holiday, allowing working Americans to keep their entire paycheck, not just a portion.”
5. How do you plan to communicate with the people in your district?
“By being accessible, having open office hours, publishing my contact information and speaking directly to the voters every chance I get. Accessibility is key, and I’ll provide it.”
6. Why should students and young people across New York vote for you?
“Simply put, I am the only candidate that can connect with you and take on your needs. My opponents have to follow a game plan put forth by their party leadership and political agendas, whereas I only follow the lead of the people of the 22nd district. The things that matter to students matter to me. I will listen to your concerns, take them to [Washington, D.C.] and hold the government accountable in assisting every American in times of need. I’m always willing to listen, learn, grow and communicate with anyone or everyone to solve problems. If the government did this more often, we’d be in a much better place.”