The Democratic candidate in the 27th Congressional District, Nate McMurray made a stop in Rochester Saturday night at a union hall, at the Communication Workers of America Local 1170 on Lake Avenue.
That followed an appearance in Lockport earlier in the day, as McMurray tries to build on recent moment caused by the indictment of Republican incumbent Chris Collins on insider trading charges, and then, Collins’ announcement on Saturday that he would be suspending his campaign.
Collins has said he would serve out the remaining months of his term this year, but McMurray and other Democrats want Collins to resign now.
“It was time for him to go and now we need him to resign from the seat in Congress; he’s collecting a paycheck, he’s collecting a pension from this, he’s earning a pension from this, he shouldn’t be there…he needs to resign,” McMurray said.
Even though Republicans may possibly be able to get a substitute candidate on the ballot, McMurray says he would still rather face whoever that will be rather than Collins, even though Collins is under indictment.
“Because he’s entrenched, he’s an incumbent, and we know from the statistics it’s always harder to beat an incumbent. He’s someone that has infrastructure in place, a team in place, a staff in place. They’re going to get somebody who’s got money and who’s got resources, but it’s going to be different than fighting an incumbent.”
McMurray says he has been in talks with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to see whether the national group can offer any additional support to his campaign.
“We’re in constant communication we’re trying to figure out what the right role for them to play is; what I’ll tell you right now is, no one’s going to change me. My message has been my message from the get-go, I don’t use pollsters, I don’t use focus groups, I don’t use any of that; I speak from my heart, and my compass is the same compass it’s always been.”
