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House candidate takes break, mulling St. Francis.(Nation) go to website livingston county news

The Washington Times (Washington, DC) October 31, 1998 | Lehrer, Eli William Cook took a break from his race for Congress Oct. 3 to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi by spending a day contemplating the life of the saint.

Mr. Cook, a New York Democrat, had lots of material for contemplation. After all, the professor at the State University of New York at Geneseo has written extensively on the saint’s life.

Running what he concedes is a long-shot campaign in a House district where there are five registered Republicans for every three Democrats, Mr. Cook is an unusual species in his own party: an ardent pro-lifer.

“I believe in overturning Roe v. Wade as soon as possible,” says Mr. Cook. “It isn’t so much that I want to make abortion illegal, it’s that I want to make it unthinkable.” Mr. Cook is the only Democrat running for Congress on New York State’s Right to Life Party line.

Republican Rep. Bill Paxon currently represents the district, New York’s 27th. Mr. Paxon’s anointed successor is GOP state Rep. Tom Reynolds, cut from the same conservative cloth as Mr. Paxon.

Even Mr. Cook admits that he faces an uphill struggle. “I’m an historian, and not even I can tell you the last time a Democrat represented this district,” he says. “If one had to bet on the race, they probably should bet on my opponent.” Mr. Cook says that he felt compelled to enter the race after meeting with Mr. Paxon to discuss a bill to improve adoption procedures. The bill carried great personal interest for Mr. Cook, the father of three adopted children and a longtime crusader for improved adoption procedures.

“He said that it sounded great and that he would support it,” Mr. Cook says. “Then he did nothing.” Mr. Cook says that making adoption easier could make great headway against many social problems.

“Both the left and the right agree that children without families cause immense social problems,” says Mr. Cook. “The brother of one of my sons spent his whole life getting help from the state in various ways and now he is in jail. My son is a taxpayer.” Mr. Cook has raised very little money but says that he is getting extra support from some interesting sources. “I’m from an academic community so I have its resources to draw on,” he says. “I have a professor of media doing my media and a political science professor advising my on strategy.” Students also play a significant role in Mr. Cook’s campaign. this web site livingston county news

No daily newspaper has its main office in the district and, aside from internal polls taken by the Reynolds campaign, there has been no survey of the voting population.

Ben Carlson, who edits the local weekly Livingston County News, which does not make endorsements, says that he believes Mr. Cook may be showing some momentum. “When I go out in the district, I see awfully few Reynolds signs in people’s yards and I see Cook signs all over,” he says. “I don’t know what it means for sure, but it’s probably good for Cook.” Mr. Carlson also says that the Reynolds campaign has seemed decidedly lackluster. “Cook is running all over the place, trying to meet people and visiting all over the state every day,” says Mr. Carlson. “Reynolds sometimes doesn’t seem to be running much of a campaign at all. I’ve seen very little literature.” Lehrer, Eli