Election CoverageCNY Heartland Hurting Over Sweetland Loss
By: Norino Mirra
Contributor
Dale Sweetland lost the 25th district congressional race to Democrat Dan Maffei on Tuesday. The loss hit particularly hard for Sweetland supporters in and around his hometown of Fabius, New York. The area is made up of rural farmland, and boasts only a general store. Many residents were dejected and avoided talking about Maffei’s win. Those who were willing to talk were hurt that one of their own wasn’t able to represent them. Many farmers, like Kevin Way, thought Maffei won because he’s a big time politician and was able to raise millions of dollars more than Sweetland for his campaign.
Sweetland is “…basically a poor, rural guy who competed against someone with a lot of money.” Local Ann Demord points to Maffei having a head start and more exposure as the reasons why he won the congressional seat. “Maffei had run before and lost. So he had a little treasure chest.” Maffei also had many more television ads and exposure across Central New York than Sweetland.
Dale Sweetland lost the 25th district congressional race to Democrat Dan Maffei on Tuesday. The loss hit particularly hard for Sweetland supporters in and around his hometown of Fabius, New York. The area is made up of rural farmland, and boasts only a general store. Many residents were dejected and avoided talking about Maffei’s win. Those who were willing to talk were hurt that one of their own wasn’t able to represent them. Many farmers, like Kevin Way, thought Maffei won because he’s a big time politician and was able to raise millions of dollars more than Sweetland for his campaign.
Sweetland is “…basically a poor, rural guy who competed against someone with a lot of money.” Local Ann Demord points to Maffei having a head start and more exposure as the reasons why he won the congressional seat. “Maffei had run before and lost. So he had a little treasure chest.” Maffei also had many more television ads and exposure across Central New York than Sweetland.
The feeling of sadness seemed to pervade everybody in this small town. Sweetland grew up in Fabius, was a dairy farmer on his father’s farm, and eventually sold it to get into politics. For the residents of Fabius, he represents the farmer, the little guy. Fabius native Nicole Wilbur fondly remembers when Sweetland used to call her pet names as a little girl. She doesn’t see him as a politician so much as someone who just wants to help everybody. “We like what he stands for, he listens to you. Not many people sit there and listen to you.”
Victor Luche is a longtime friend of Sweetlands. They went to school together, and still keep in touch. Luche says it was a tough blow for Sweetland, but knows he’ll bounce back. Luche doesn’t know anything about Maffei, beyond the fact that Maffei “…came up with an enormous amount of money to take the seat.”
Luche isn’t the only Fabius resident who’s unfamiliar with Maffei. Nobody knows much about him, other than he ran against Sweetland and won. Nicole Wilbur is scared that Maffei will forget about the farm rich areas in and around Fabius. “When someone from this area doesn’t win, we feel it- we don’t get the funding.”What it comes down to is that Dan Maffei is a politican through and through. Maffei went to Nottingham High School in Syracuse, earned a Bachelor's Degree in History from Brown University and Masters Degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sweetland is a farmer first, and a politician second. He spent 25 years owning and managing an agricultural operation before selling the farm in 1997 and moving to the insurance industry. He grew up and went to school in Fabius. Sweetland’s pal Luche points out “Dale is a farmer, Dale’s father was a farmer, and they’re good people.”
Victor Luche is a longtime friend of Sweetlands. They went to school together, and still keep in touch. Luche says it was a tough blow for Sweetland, but knows he’ll bounce back. Luche doesn’t know anything about Maffei, beyond the fact that Maffei “…came up with an enormous amount of money to take the seat.”
Luche isn’t the only Fabius resident who’s unfamiliar with Maffei. Nobody knows much about him, other than he ran against Sweetland and won. Nicole Wilbur is scared that Maffei will forget about the farm rich areas in and around Fabius. “When someone from this area doesn’t win, we feel it- we don’t get the funding.”What it comes down to is that Dan Maffei is a politican through and through. Maffei went to Nottingham High School in Syracuse, earned a Bachelor's Degree in History from Brown University and Masters Degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sweetland is a farmer first, and a politician second. He spent 25 years owning and managing an agricultural operation before selling the farm in 1997 and moving to the insurance industry. He grew up and went to school in Fabius. Sweetland’s pal Luche points out “Dale is a farmer, Dale’s father was a farmer, and they’re good people.”
Moving forward, small town Central New York residents hope that Dan Maffei won’t forget about them. Meanwhile, they will continue to lament the loss of Sweetland and wonder if they can trust someone that isn’t one of their own.
*Photos courtesy of Syracuse Post Standard and http://farm4.static.flickr.com, respectively
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