NY19 race hits Woodstock: David Clegg, Jeff Beals

Two congressional hopefuls from Woodstock, David Clegg and Jeff Beals, may not be able to invoke their five-generation family roots in the 19th Congressional District like some of the other candidates, but in a crowded field of Democrats, they stand out as the most firmly planted in the district.

Clegg and Beals are both seeking the Democratic nomination to take on Rep. John Faso in highly competitive, politically divided region.

There are seven Democrats in the June 26 primary, but while others have moved back home from New York City and Washington, D.C., Clegg and Beals settled in Ulster County towns years ago to raise their families and are deeply invested in their communities.

Beals and Clegg both have intriguing resumes that reveal a passion for public service. Clegg is a trial attorney and ordained deacon, who has worked as an Ulster County public defender. Beals is a former intelligence officer and U.S. diplomat who now teaches history at a Woodstock high school.

Both candidates vow to fight for Medicare for All and to stand up to special interests.

In fundraising, they lag significantly behind the three perceived front runners in the race, attorney Antonio Delgado, corporate executive Brian Flynn, and tech entrepreneur Pat Ryan, but their idealism and proven commitment to the district are likely to win over many voters.

During debates, Beals and Clegg are often grouped together and appear to share a rapport, but while one has devoted a large portion of his life to ending the world's conflicts, the other has pursued a similarly ambitious goal of ending poverty and injustice here in the United States.

Beals has made waves as the Democrat in the race most aligned politically with U.S. Sen. Bernie  Sanders, vowing to take on big corporations and fight for the "99 percent." He has scooped up endorsements from actress and outspoken Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon, Justice Democrats, and various factions of the People for Bernie.

But while Sanders, during his 2016 bid for president, was criticized for having a thin foreign policy platform, Beals' resume reveals an obsessive interest in foreign affairs.

As a former U.S. diplomat, Beals served in Middle East under both Democratic and Republican administrations, pushing for peace in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He served Iraq in 2004 and was decorated for his service by the U.S. Army and the State Department. He says he helped unite warring factions and negotiate a constitution for Iraq's fledgling democracy.

Beals often references his four holocaust survivor grandparents, who came to the U.S. as refugees, when talking about his immigration platform and his inspiration for running.

"To me this country was the savior of my family and all I wanted to do was be part of serving the American dream because my family lived it," Beals said.

In 2011, he and his wife decided to settle in Hudson Valley region to raise their two boys, now 3 and 5. He also says he grew disillusioned with militaristic direction the country was moving in.

Now, as a high school teacher, he said he imbues in his students a sense of social justice and civic responsibility. It was his students, he said, who inspired him to run for office.

"I didn't expect the class to take the turn it took, but I ended up taking he class to the Women's March," Beals said. It occurred to him, when asking the kids what are they going to do fix the political system, that he should be asking himself the same question.

Clegg's contribution to 19th Congressional District is wide-ranging. While working as a county public defender in Ulster County for nine years, during the 1980s and 1990s, he fought to rehabilitate non-violent offenders and pushed for treatment over jail time for people suffering from addictions.

He currently serves as chairperson of the Ulster County Human Rights Commission, as well as on a legislative task force to draft a comprehensive Human Rights Law for Ulster County at the request of the Ulster County Legislature. He served two terms on the Ulster County health board.

Clegg is a 1974 graduate of SUNY New Paltz and a 1977 graduate of the University of Buffalo Law School. He became an ordained deacon in 2011, through the United Methodist Church after obtaining a master's degree from Yale Divinity School, a position he uses for his social justice work. He believes his "love thy neighbor" ethos is one that can appeal to voters throughout the district, regardless of politics.

"There are so many people of faith throughout this community — who are independent, and Republican — who can hear a voice that comes from that place. I want to get back to seeing each other as neighbors, instead of the hate and fear mongering that's going on," Clegg said.

While he has been successful in his life, growing up poor, he said, has given him an ability to relate to people from all walks of life, he said.

"My father only had a sixth-grade education. My sister had Down syndrome," Clegg said. "We were lucky with the G.I. benefits to get a house, but we almost lost it many times.

His interest in civil rights dates dates to the 1970s, when in law school and he clerked for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) civil defense fund to challenge the death penalty which was disproportionately being applied to black people. Later, as a young trial lawyer, he worked as a VISTA volunteer, representing Native Americans in Nebraska and South Dakota.