Politinerds Radio: Congressman Richard Hanna
On this week’s episode of Politinerds, Jazz Shaw and I interview Congressman Richard Hanna, a Republican representing New York’s 22nd Congressional District, a District in Central New York State that stretches from the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario south to the New York-Pennsylvania border south of Binghamtom. Congressman Hanna has been in office since being elected as part of the Republican wave in 2010 when he was elected in the 24th District, which covered some of the same geography but was merged with parts of the old 22nd District after New York lost two districts in the wake of the 2010 Census. This year, Hanna made some headlines nationally when he fought off a Tea Party challenger in his primary and, during his time in Congress has generally gained the reputation of being a moderate Northeastern conservative. One example of this can be seen in the fact that Ccongressman Hanna is a member of both the conservative Republican Study Committee and the Main Street Partnership, a group of generally moderate conservatives currently led by former Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette. Hanna is also one of the handful of Republican Members of Congress who has endorsed same-sex marriage, and is a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus.
In the interview, recorded prior to yesterday’s vote on the budget, which the Congressman voted to approve, we talked about his upbringing in Central New York’s farm country, taking over as head of household after the untimely death of his father as he was about to enter college, starting a construction business in the early 1970s, and his entry into politics. We also touched upon what the Congressman has learned from his brief time in Congress and his thoughts about the possibilities for what the new Congress can hope to achieve when it convenes in January.
Previous episodes of Politinerds can be found here and at the show’s home page.
Good Grief!
Hey, I’ll check it out. Best of luck to you on your new venture!