Southampton Progressive Caucus Invites Public To Two Candidate Debates

Southampton Progressive Caucus presents Two Candidate Debates

Democratic Congressional candidates Kate Browning, Elaine DiMasi, Perry Gershon, David Pechefsky and Vivian Viloria Fisher. Rebecca Dolber moderator.

The Southampton Progress Caucus will present two debates among the Democratic candidates for Congress on Saturday, May 5 and Saturday, May 19. The May 5 debate will be held at the Southampton Inn at 91 Hill Street, Southampton. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the debate runs from 2 to 4 p.m. The May 19 debate will be held at Chancellors Hall at Stony Brook Southampton, 239 Montauk Highway, Southampton. Prior to that debate there will be a grass-roots activists’ fair from 1:30 to 2 p.m. Debate will run from 2 to 4 p.m.

The debates will feature the five candidates running in the Democratic Congressional primary on June 26: Kate Browning, Elaine DiMasi, Perry Gershon, David Pechefsky and Vivian Viloria Fisher. The debates will cover a wide range of topics, domestic and international. They will be moderated by Rebecca Dolber, founder of East End Action Network, bio below.

The Southampton Progressive Caucus (SPC) is an alliance of grassroots activists and the Southampton Town Democratic Committee. It was formed in 2017 to advocate for social justice, advance progressive values and to elect progressive Democrats in Southampton Town, Suffolk County, New York State and New York’s 1st Congressional District. In the words of Andrea Klausner, one of the founders of the Southampton Progressive Caucus, “The stakes have never been higher to elect responsible, qualified individuals to represent us in Congress. These debates are an opportunity to get to know our wonderful candidates better so we can be fully informed voters.”

The debates are free and open to all.  For more information, please contact Andrea Klausner at shprogressivecaucus@gmail.com.

Kate Browning served as a Suffolk County Legislator representing the 3rd district for 12 years. She was born and raised Belfast, Northern Ireland, and has lived with her husband and children in Shirley since 1989. Before taking office, Browning worked as a school bus driver for the William Floyd School District. Her husband and sons have served in the military and she “avidly supports our service members overseas and their families here at home.” In her words, Browning “has fought for Suffolk County’s working families, has successfully controlled spending and held the line on taxes, cracked down on illegal housing and made protecting our precious environment a focus.”

Elaine DiMasi spent 21 years as a federal contractor and project manager at Brookhaven National Lab, “delivering world leading solutions in energy, environment and health.” DiMasi says her blue-collar background and work ethic inspired her “to value, respect and protect the dignity of working women and men.”DiMasi believes in “a government that values two way communication and transparency, a government that cares for all its people equally, is responsive to them and their concerns, an American future that values equality for its people and that opens doors of opportunity for all.”

Vivian Viloria Fisher is a former teacher of English and Spanish for the Middle Country and Three Village School districts and Suffolk County Legislator from East Setauket. She was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature on January 19, 1999 in a special election. She went on to serve 13 years as a legislator and served as deputy presiding officer for six years. Her greatest areas of interest were social justice and environmental protection. After leaving the legislature, due to term limits, she served on a number of boards including the Suffolk County Food Policy Council, which she created, and Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic’s C3 and C4 boards.

Perry Gershon is a successful businessman making his first foray into politics because “he is disturbed by a Washington political class that cares more about themselves than the American people.” After founding a sports bars at the age of 23, Gershon spent more than 25 years in commercial real estate finance. He co-founded a firm during the Great Recession to offer alternatives to traditional lending sources, providing capital for real estate projects and preventing defaults and foreclosure. Over his career, Gershon has “earned a reputation for bringing about cooperation among diverse parties to achieve common goals, which has prepared him to reach across party lines in Congress.” Gershon oversaw Hurricane Sandy relief efforts for his synagogue as chair of its social action committee. He is also a marathon runner who has used the sport to raise money for numerous charitable causes. Gershon put down roots in Suffolk County more than 22 years ago. He and his family live on the South Fork.

David Pechefsky grew up in Patchogue was valedictorian at Patchogue-Medford High School in 1986. He earned his BA from Hunter College and a masters in international development at American University. As a longtime staffer for the New York City Council, Pechefsky worked on issues ranging from protecting children to lead poisoning to promoting green buildings to affordable housing. At the MTA and the Mayor’s Office of Appointments, he worked to ensure the city had the most qualified and capable people in leadership roles. Pechefsky has also worked to help build democracy abroad. As a consultant for the National Democratic Institute from 2010 to 2013, he helped establish a legislative budget office for the Congress of Liberia, managed a U.S. government funded program to strengthen the parliament of Somalia and worked with the prime minister of Iraq. Pechefsky lives in Port Jefferson and  is on leave from his position as a senior advisor with Generation Citizen, a nonprofit that trains college students to be “democracy coaches,” and provides civic education for middle and high school students. He led the initiative to obtain over $1 million in public funding for the organization.

Rebecca Dolber (moderator), who up in East Moriches, is the founder and organizer of the East End Action Network, a grassroots, Indivisible organization focused on voter outreach and education. She earned a B.A. in communications and film from Manhattanville College and continued her studies in screenwriting at the New York Film Academy. She spent her 20s living and working in New York City, coordinating various productions for Iron Films and NBC Universal. A year before her 30th birthday, she moved back to the district to build her own business, a wholesale jewelry and design firm, R.E.D., Rebecca’s studio. Her jewelry can be found in surf shops and yoga studios from Moriches to Montauk. Dolber currently resides in Center Moriches.