On Monday, Zephyr Teachout announced her candidacy for New York’s 19th Congressional District. The New York Times spoke with her about her decision.
In an interview, Ms. Teachout said she was running to “stand up for ordinary people who have been shut out of the political system,” while promising to travel all over the large district — comprising parts of 11 upstate and Hudson Valley counties — to get her message out.
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Ms. Teachout said on Monday that she no longer lived in Brooklyn, where she resided for several years, though she admitted to being a resident of the 19th District only since March, in a rental house in Dutchess County. But she said her upbringing in Vermont had given her a good sense of the “struggles of former agricultural communities,” and local Democrats have seemed excited about her candidacy, with a host of county party leaders endorsing her nomination earlier this month.
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For her part, Ms. Teachout, who has written extensively about the problems of money and other influence in politics, said her campaign for governor had been inspired by fighting corruption in Albany. And she believed there were many independents in the 19th District who were “fed up with corruption in Washington.”
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“I really believe that you can stand up to the establishment,” she said, “and still be gracious.”