Letter To The Editor: Murphy Obscures Stands On Key Issues

The writer is a Cortlandt resident.

To the Editor:

Senator Murphy engages in unfair campaign practices, obscuring his positions on key issues.

On October 21, the nonpartisan Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee upheld four complaints by Democrat Pete Harckham, Murphy’s opponent in the upcoming election for NYS Senate. In every case the committee found Murphy’s contentions against Harckham to be “misleading” and “unsubstantiated,” a “knowing mischaracterization,” or demonstrably “false.”

Murphy’s reason for engaging in false and misleading attacks seems obvious: to divert attention from his positions on key issues that divide Murphy from his constituents.

For instance, Roe v. Wade is under threat from President Trump’s refashioned Supreme Court. Consistent with the views of the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers, the Democratic-controlled Assembly passed a bill to make Roe the law of New York in case Roe is overturned, but Murphy opposes a woman’s right to choose, and the Republican-controlled Senate never voted on the bill.

Similarly, Murphy, who has a 93% NRA approval rating, has introduced legislation to repeal the SAFE Act, gun control legislation enacted in 2013 with strong bi-partisan support. He opposes additional legislation to enhance background checks, prevent the mentally ill and those convicted of domestic violence from having guns, and ban bump stocks (which are used to convert semi-automatic weapons to automatic ones).

Also, New York has one of the most restrictive statutes of all states concerning the time limits within which criminal and civil litigation based on child sexual abuse can be initiated. Murphy opposes legislation to extend these time periods.

Lastly, New York is repeatedly in the lowest 20% of states in voter participation, but the Republican-controlled Senate has blocked measures, such as early voting, designed to increase voting. Instead, Murphy has sponsored voter ID legislation, which has been used elsewhere to suppress voting by African American citizens.

Please reject both Murphy’s views on these issues and his unfair campaign practices by voting for Pete Harckham for NY Senate.

Jonathan Kratter

Cortlandt Manor