Kelly ponders life after Washington
By KATHY KAHN

Sue Kelly, who served the 19th Congressional District for 12 years, is “weighing her options” after a stinging defeat in the fall elections to transplanted Dutchess County resident John Hall.

Kelly and Hall held few debates in the region prior to the Nov. 7 election, with Kelly relying on her record and Hall relying on a grassroots effort to propel him into his opponent’s tightly held seat. When allegations arose that Kelly ignored a sex scandal involving Florida Rep. Mark Foley and congressional pages, the tide seemed to turn on the popular congresswoman as swiftly as it rose in her favor more than a decade earlier.

Kelly was elected in a Republican sweep in 1994, replacing Hamilton Fish. The 19th District grew larger when longtime U.S. Rep. Benjamin Gilman was redistricted out of office, choosing to retire rather than battle for re-election. While there were constituents clearly not in Kelly’s corner, she was well received in Dutchess, Orange and Putnam counties, long considered a Republican stronghold.

When Hall, who served as school board president in Saugerties, was tapped to run against Kelly, he moved to Orange County and then settled in Dutchess, where he and his wife, Pamela, bought a home in Dover. Kelly fought vigorously to retain her seat, with mass mailings and automated phone messages right up to Election Day. But when the torrent of political campaigning ended, Hall found himself elected as new junior congressman of the district. He seemed as surprised as Kelly seemed shocked when the votes were counted. Initially reacting to Hall’s 51-49 percent victory by demanding a recount, Kelly withdrew the challenge and wished Hall “Good luck” as she headed to Washington to clean out her offices.

Kelly has kept a low profile but emerged last week to answer allegations made by U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey that outgoing Republicans lost more than $12 million in earmarks -- “pet” items routinely attached to spending or tax bills -- leaving more than a dozen Hudson Valley projects without promised funding. Kelly said the Senate chose to rely on a contingency resolution and continue the federal budget at the 2006 level.

“Government must continue to function daily, and that is how they (the Senate) handled it,” Kelly said. “If the new Congress wants to do those earmarks, Mr. Hinchey sits on the Appropriations Committee and can keep them in the 2007 budget.”

When asked about leaving her replacement in a bind when she vacated her Washington offices, Kelly said Hall got the same greeting she received when arriving in 1994 to replace outgoing Hamilton Fish, a fellow Republican. “I walked into a room with no files, no furniture and no phones. After the election, my office was closed by Nov. 28. By Dec. 14, the phones were off and the computers scrubbed. Mr. Hall has received the same ‘Washington welcome’ everyone gets when they are elected for the first time. I had to be out and shut down before Mr. Hall ever arrived in the Capitol.”

Kelly has resigned herself to the fact she is no longer representing the Hudson Valley. “The people have spoken. I did my best to serve all my constituents in the 19th… I brought home a lot of money for the district and I tried to help people with their needs. I think I did a good job. Now the voters have chosen John Hall to represent them. He will face the same challenges I did.

Meanwhile, the new Congress has already clamped down on the controversial earmarks. By a vote of 280 to 152, lawmakers must now put their names to those items routinely piggybacked onto bills and certify they have no financial interest in them. Maryland’s Steny Hoyer, House majority leader, promised the new Democratic-controlled Congress would cut the current number of earmarks in half by fiscal 2008, which have tripled to nearly $64 billion since 1994.