Former Marine Launches Campaign for 18th Congressional District

Marine Corps veteran and senior executive service official Frank Spampinato launched his campaign to unseat Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney last week in the 18th NY Congressional District.

The Newburgh native’s résumé includes enlistment in the United States Marine Corps following the Beirut bombings in 1983 and a career at the CIA, FEMA, and in the Senior Executive Service at the Department of Energy (DOE) during the Bush administration.

”I’m running for Congress because the Hudson Valley needs a representative who will protect the rights, resources, and security of every taxpayer in our community,” said Spampinato in a prepared statement. “And as a military veteran who spent much of my career in the CIA, I know firsthand that the need to protect our country from economic, geographic, and technological threats has never been more urgent.”

Spampinato’s military service will resonate well with Hudson Valley voters in a year when only one in five congressmen have worn a uniform and national security promises to be a major issue, campaign staffers said.

On the issue of tax relief and federal appropriations, the candidate advocated a two-pronged approach.

“The few resources Washington does send back to the Hudson Valley pale in comparison with what we send to Washington,” he said. “That’s why our district needs a representative whose willing to fight, not for cheap earmarks and pork-barrel spending, but to keep our community resources from leaving the district in the first place.”

In the announcement launching his campaign, Spampinato offered solutions to grow jobs and lower taxes for the Hudson Valley, while securing the country’s southern border and protecting the homeland.

Spampinato also took Maloney to task, characterizing the congressman’s career as a political fixer for Eliot Spitzer and contrasting it with his lifetime in public service.

Maloney is in his second term in the House of Representatives, having defeated Nan Hayworth twice. The election is in November 2016.

SEE: Nan Hayworth Concedes, Sean Maloney Wins