It will be by rental car instead of an RV, but Ed Koch is hitting the road.
The former mayor will visit Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse on Aug. 4-6 to rally support for New York Uprising, the political action committee he founded earlier this year to force reform by compelling candidates for the Legislature and other state offices to sign a pledge to pursue non-partisan redistricting.
This will be Koch’s first upstate campaign tour since his failed 1982 run for governor.
Each stop will feature a rally praising the people who have signed a pledge, or the “Heroes of Reform,” and lambasting the “Enemies of Reform” who have not.
“We’re going to make it hot and heavy for those who didn’t sign and hopefully support those who didn’t,” Koch said.
Koch will also meet with local editorial boards and other groups to pump up the cause of NY Uprising while on the trip, and may even conduct some fundraising events. The group has so far raised about $120,000, with a chunk of that coming from an event at Union Square Wines in late June.
NY Uprising set a deadline of midnight Wednesday to receive the pledge, with a rush of them arriving in the closing hours before. Currently, just under 200 candidates from both parties and all over the state have signed.
The group will roll out a list of its Enemies of Reform on Thursday, whom Koch says he will do everything in his power to beat. The Heroes, meanwhile, have received a seal of approval and laudatory quotation from Koch to use in their campaign materials—even in races where multiple opposing candidates have signed the pledge. In addition, if there is excess money beyond covering operating costs, Koch has said, it will be used to help the Heroes’ campaigns.
As for those who were enemies as of midnight, Koch said, the invitation remains open.
“You can get off the enemy list by signing up at any time,” he said.
“Citizens, New Yorkers must take advantage of this special time in our state’s history and demand Reform. Join us, this is our year.”
