FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2011

CONTACT: Rob Ryan 917-658-0195

ENGEL TO CHALLENGE HINCHEY

Calls 9 Term Congressman Radically Wrong for NY
In a hard hitting email blast to over 23,000 enrolled Republicans and Conservatives. Tom Engel, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Ulster County resident today announced that he has filed a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission and will formally challenge professional politician and 9-term incumbent Congressman Maurice Hinchey (NY-22) in the November 2012 elections. Engel, 65, will seek the nominations of the Republican and Conservative Party. Earlier this year, Engel formed an exploratory committee to examine the realities of entering the race and has spent the last 3 months crisscrossing the Congressional District meeting with political leaders and activists. In the email, Engel wrote that he was entering the race because Maurice Hinchey is a professional politician who, over the course of four decades, has proven that he is radically wrong for New York and America and that Hinchey is a high-tax/big-spend politician in the mold of Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. They are driving our nation deeper in debt and our economy deeper in doubt. (The full text of the letter maybe found below) Tom Engel is a graduate of Harvard and Columbia Law School. He is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. Where he investigated and tried terrorism, organized crime, and narcotics cases. In private practice for most of the balance of his 35 years as a lawyer, he is currently a partner in a national law firm. Tom lives in Lew Beach, New York, with his wife Suzanne and assorted dogs, horses and other animals. The Engels have 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren.

Dear Fellow New Yorker: I am writing you to tell you that I have filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and will challenge longtime incumbent Congressman Maurice Hinchey. I am entering the race because Maurice Hinchey, who will be seeking his 10th term in Congress next year, has proven over the course of four decades in politics, that he is radically wrong for New York and for America. Maurice Hincheys liberal congressional voting record since 1993 proves this again and again as do his calls for nationalization of oil refineries, the closing of Guantanamo and his support of Obamacare. Congressman Hinchey is a high-tax/big-spend politician in the mold of Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. They are driving our nation deeper in debt and our economy deeper in doubt. He is simply out of touch with what is going on in America. He doesnt understand what we all know; that jobs and opportunity are created by the entrepreneurs and the small business people on Main Street, not nameless, faceless, unelected, federal bureaucrats. My first priority will be to unchain our job creators from the endless regulations spewing out of Washington so that small businesses can grow and prosper. I have spent the last three months crisscrossing the 22nd Congressional District listening to the concerns of my fellow New Yorkers and sharing my view of where we ought to be headed. I think I know how they feel about the representation they are getting in Washington. They tell me we need a new and a different direction. I agree. I am confident that these voters wish to retire Maurice Hinchey from Congress and that is why I am entering this race and seeking the nomination of both the Republican and the Conservative Party. Over the course of the next year I will continue to reach out to the voters of the 22nd Congressional District with a conservative message of lower taxes, less spending and a smaller federal government that actually works for, and is accountable to, its citizens. Last November voters from around our state and nation sent a resounding message to Washington by wresting control of the House from Nancy Pelosi and electing six new Republican members of Congress across New York. Last month, voters in New York City of all places elected Republican Bob Turner to Congress; a seat that had been held by Democrats since the 1920s. Next year we can continue to make history, this time in the 22nd Congressional District. In the months ahead I plan to carry my conservative Republican message to every corner of the district and in doing so, I hope to have an opportunity to meet with you, listen to you and seek your support in this crucial race. Together we can retire Maurice Hinchey and begin to put New York and our nation back on track. Sincerely,

Thomas E. Engel P.S. If you would like to know more about my campaign, please visit my website by clicking here.