Just seven weeks after announcing his candidacy for New York state’s 22nd Congressional District, Binghamton University associate professor of computer science Patrick Madden has officially dropped out of the race, according to a statement posted on the campaign’s Facebook page Monday afternoon.
He attributed his withdrawal to last Wednesday’s announcement that New York state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat from Utica, will also seek the Democratic nomination and challenge incumbent Claudia Tenney (R.-New York) in the November 2018 election.
“Dear friends — as I’m sure you’re all aware, my outsider bid for a Congressional seat was going to be an uphill battle, and I want to thank everyone for their support,” the statement read in part. “My path to the general election became more challenging a few days ago, with Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi entering the race … I will withdraw from the race; rather than being bitter rivals, I see an opportunity to be allies.”
Brindisi is an attorney who has served as a member of the New York State Assembly ― the lower house of the New York State Legislature that is composed of 150 representatives ― since September 2011. Syracuse.com first reported that Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) had encouraged Brindisi to enter the House race multiple times over the past year.
“This district is chock-full of hard-working, middle-class people and Anthony Brindisi is an independent voice who is perfectly suited to represent them,” Schumer said in a statement one day after Brindisi’s announcement.
At his announcement in Utica, Brindisi was surrounded by supporters as he criticized the prospect of taking away health care from working families to provide billionaires with tax cuts.
In an email to Pipe Dream on the evening of Brindisi’s announcement last Wednesday, Madden acknowledged the assemblyman’s candidacy but did not hint that he was withdrawing.
“We welcome the Assemblyman to the race and I’m glad he shares the belief that Claudia Tenney is not representing the people of this district in Washington,” he wrote.
Madden said his team has made progress in the past couple of weeks on the campaign since his official announcement on May 15.
“I’ve got a full-time finance director who moved to the area to work on my campaign, and I have campaign media (Joe Trippi & company), and a print media team,” he wrote. “I’ve also been driving all over the district meeting with people in both small and large groups, to hear what they have to say.”
In his Facebook statement on Monday, Madden cited Brindisi’s status as an “experienced politician” and his “establishment backing” as two specific factors that would have made him tough to defeat.
“To be competitive, I would need to run a divisive, bruising campaign, and I don’t think that would serve either of us well,” he said. “… I’ve spoken to Assemblyman Brindisi, and will work with him to add my technical expertise to his political skills.”
Brindisi echoed Madden’s sentiment in a statement also posted to Facebook on Monday.
“[Madden] has a good grasp of the issues facing this congressional district, and I agree with him on restoring devastating budget cuts that Congresswoman Tenney supports,” Brindisi said….”I look forward to working with him as my campaign advances.”
Since kicking off his campaign, Madden said he had raised approximately $20,000. He has stopped taking donations and will return any previously raised funds to donors.