A second Republican has entered the race to unseat U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-Rhinebeck) in November’s election.
But Millbrook-based attorney and Army Reserve officer Kyle Van De Water will have to overcome Delgado’s formidable fundraising advantage of almost $3 million to compete across the sprawling 19th Congressional District.
Van De Water grew up in Poughkeepsie and attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on an ROTC scholarship. At Amherst, Van De Water earned the Distinguished Military Graduate award and a degree in political science and economics.
Following his graduation from college, Van De Water served in the Army Reserve until his graduation from Albany Law School, when he switched to active duty. As a member of the Army’s Judicial Advocate General’s Corps, Van De Water served as an administrative law attorney at the United States Military Academy and served a tour on Afghanistan, where he earned the Bronze Star in 2011. Following his discharge from active duty in 2014, Van De Water continued to serve in the Army Reserve and currently holds the rank of major. Van De Water is employed as a litigation attorney at the Poughkeepsie-based firm Corbally, Gartland & Rappleyea, LLP. He lives in Millbrook with his wife Melissa and four children.
The 19th Congressional District covers all of Ulster, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie and Sullivan counties and portions of Broome, Dutchess, Montgomery and Rensselaer counties. Despite its cachet as a highly competitive swing district, Republicans have struggled to field a strong opponent to take on Delgado. Tony German, a retired Air National Guard general, dropped his bid for the seat last month. Poughkeepsie-based fashion designer and staunch supporter of President Donald Trump Ola Hawatmeh is seeking the seat but has this far failed to raise significant funds for the race. Candidate Mike Roth of Ellenville, running on a far-right platform, has mainly confined his campaign to social media. Also in the race is New Paltz’s Steve Greenfield, who announced earlier this month his intention to make another bid for the seat on the Green Party line.
Delgado, by contrast, has, according to Federal Election Commission records, raised $2.8 million and spent $800,000 in the current election cycle.
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