By S. Alexander Gerould | Utica Observer-Dispatch

Little Falls resident Martin Babinec said, that if elected to the 22nd Congressional District, he will caucus with the Republican Party.

Martin Babinec is running for Congress on several independent lines.

But the Little Falls resident said, that if elected to the 22nd Congressional District, he will caucus with the Republican Party.

“It is necessary to really caucus with one of the two parties in order to get some things done,” Babinec said. “It’s where I believe I can have the greatest impact because I do need cooperation and support from others and just looking at, especially congress, this is where the greater opportunity is to have an influence.”

Babinec is one of three candidates seeking the seat of U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, who is retiring at the end of the year. Others also seeking the seat are state Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, and Democrat Kim Myers.

Babinec will appear on the Independent, Reform and Upstate Jobs lines in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

“Getting things done is very important for me and it is the reason that I’m running for Congress,” Babinec said. “So it’s my intent to also have as much influence as I can on other people in Congress, many of them wanting to know more about how to do things like create jobs and I hope to influence them along those lines.”

Ryan Rhodes, Tenneys’ campaign manager, called Babinec a “liberal millionaire” who has contributed “tens of thousands to liberal Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo.”

“Babinec caucusing with Republicans? Don’t hold your breath,” Rhodes said. “Babinec is spending millions on slick TV ads trying to fool Republicans, split the vote and elect fellow liberal millionaire Kim Myers.”

At the federal level, Babinec has donated over $37,000 to a variety of campaigns since 2003, according to the Federal Election Commission. That includes a total of $9,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign from 2006 to 2008 and he has donated to Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Figures from the state Board of Elections were not immediately available.

Myers’ campaign, in a statement, said that Babinec could hamper Tenney’s campaign.

“Martin Babinec,” the statement read, “presents a credible alternative for conservative voters who are turned off by Claudia Tenney’s record of missed votes and her my-way-or-the-highway approach in the assembly.”

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