New York state Democrats are well-represented at the Democratic National Convention which began in Charlotte, North Carolina Tuesday. But not all Democrats from the region are attending.Democratic Congressional candidate Dan Maffei is hoping his fellow Democrats will focus on jobs and the economy at the convention. Maffei is one of those who won't be attending, but hopes its message will resonate
with central New Yorkers.
"We need to make sure we balance the budget, but do it in the right way, not on the back of our seniors and our working people and the middle class," said Maffei. "And we didn’t see that last week in the Republican convention, we basically saw that they’re willing to sacrifice Medicare as we know it to give tax breaks to the wealthy. So I assume and hope we’ll see something very different in the Democratic convention."
Maffei opted to stay home and continue to campaign. He is running for the 24th Congressional district in a tight race against Republican incumbent Representative Ann Marie Buerkle and Green Party candidate Ursula Rozum.
But New York's two senators will attend the DNC.
Senator Charles Schumer -- who is not up for re-election this year -- will be speaking at the convention Wednesday night.
And Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is keeping a busy schedule in Charlotte. On Wednesday, she will speak at a state Democratic Party breakfast and take part in a panel on women's leadership put on by Emily's List and Marie Claire magazine.
Gillibrand is running for re-election against republican challenger New York city attorney Wendy Long. Gillibrand is heavily favored in the opinion polls.