Expect to hear a lot of this from Democratic congressional candidate Tedra Cobb as she seeks to draw a contrast with Republican incumbent Elise Stefanik: “The biggest difference between us: Elise Stefanik is a Washington insider.”

Cobb on Tuesday kicked off her second bid for a congressional seat held by Stefanik in the North Country since she won it in 2014.

 

 

It’s a campaign that’s kicking off against the backdrop of an impeachment drive in Washington, in which Stefanik has played a key role defending President Donald Trump and casting a national spotlight on the race.

Cobb’s campaign reported raising $1 million over the weekend — a staggering amount for a district in which Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 46,000 active enrolled voters.

Here’s a quick rundown of what Cobb said at the event in Queensbury.

Impeachment:

Cobb is not embracing the actual impeachment of the president just yet, even though she supports the inquiry underway in Washington.

“I think we can’t answer that question at this moment in time because we don’t have all of the facts,” she said.

Health care and Social Security:

A local supporter of Medicare-for-All, Scott Desnoyer, urged Cobb at the event to support the proposal. Cobb, however, wasn’t embracing the plan, though she had signaled being open to the idea a year ago when she ran against Stefanik the first time.

Cobb on Tuesday said she supported allowing Americans to purchase public health insurance as an option.

“I believe we should have a public option so that people can buy into Medicare so those people who want to keep their health care, they can,” she told reporters.

 

 

And she pledged to not support any measures in Congress cutting benefits.

“I will not cut a dime from Social Security or Medicare,” she told the audience.

Environment:

Cobb criticized Stefanik for votes on pollution. She pledged to support “efforts to reduce climate change and hold corporate polluters accountable.”

She added, “I believe in science-based decision making.”

The Stefanik campaign in a statement criticized Cobb for her platform and knocked George Conway, a Trump critic and husband of presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, for calling Stefanik “trashy” in a Twitter post.

“Failed, far left Democrat Tedra Cobb today started her anemic 2020 campaign right where she left off: dishonest about her clear record supporting government mandated health care that strips families off their private insurance plans, on banning guns and about supporting massive tax hikes on North Country families,” said spokesman Lenny Alcivar.

“Taxin’ Tedra had an opportunity to denounce her top campaign contributor George Conway’s description of Congresswoman Stefanik as ‘ trash,’ and to return his tainted money, but she refused.”