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Q&A: The quiet candidate: 'I'm going to win'

By Joyce Miles
September 3, 2008

— Here’s an abbreviated transcript of the Journal-Register’s interview with Alice Kryzan.

Q: You’ve been in this race for almost a year but you’ve done little advertising and your name is never in the headlines. Are you struggling for relevancy?

A: No, not really. I think most of the media attention (Davis and Powers) have received has really been about their attacks on one another — and I am certainly very happy not to be included in that.

I’ve been getting out, meeting the voters, going door to door, talking to people, calling people. I’ve raised all of my money from individual contributions, and I’ve raised more money in the district than either one of them. I have the support of people who have known me through my career here as a lawyer, through all the work that I’ve done as a volunteer in various organizations.

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Q: Who is Alice Kryzan?

A: Well, I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter and a sister; I’m an environmental lawyer and a community volunteer. And I think those are all aspects of my life that combine to make me who I am.

I’ve been married for 36 years to my husband, Bob Berger. We raised a family here. I’m very proud of my son, Sam; he just finished his first year at Yale Law School. He’s a great kid.

I’m a daughter. My father is going to be 95 in November. ... He is in a nursing home now, and I that think this is something else that really defines who I am. I’ve spent a lot of time working very hard to make sure he gets the kind of care he needs and should have, and I am very concerned about the care that’s provided to the frail elderly.

I also know what it’s like to have a young adult child who, when he got his first job after college, was asked by his parents immediately, do you have health care? Not, is this the job you want, but do you have health care? It’s a terrible problem. One of the issues that I think is going to come up in Congress is a national health care system, a discussion about how we cover everyone.

I’ve been an environmental lawyer for 30 years and I have worked on a number of contentious public environmental issues in western New York and elsewhere. ... I don’t think there’s a single other person in this race, Democrat or Republican, who has that experience, nor the judgment that comes with years of representing people and coming up with workable solutions.

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Q: You have a strong history of involvement with women’s issues.

A: I was active as a volunteer and served on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Buffalo and Erie County. I’ve been on the steering committee of the Women’s Tap Fund, a group that raises money for pro-choice women who run for office. And right now I’m on the advisory board of the Western New York Women’s Fund, a collaborative project of United Way and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo; the mission is to improve the economic self-sufficiency of women and girls in Western New York.

I know these can be touchy issues, but there’s absolutely no contradiction in the data: if a girl does not graduate from high school and she has a child out of wedlock, she’s basically consigned herself and her child to a lifetime of poverty, so it is critically important for these young women to stay in school, get their diplomas, at a minimum a high school diploma — and not get pregnant, to put it in the bluntest terms.

Once they get past those high school years and have been taught how to make responsible choices about their lives, hopefully they’ll see the advantage of getting more education, getting more training ... . It really is all of a piece in terms of uplifting women and girls, helping them be self-sustaining so they can lead productive lives. it’s not only good for them, it’s good for the community.

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Q: Who knows you beyond the legal and volunteer circles you travel?

A: I think the people that we have reached out to know me. We’ve knocked on over 15,000 doors. We didn’t get (signatures on) petitions by wishing for them, we went out and worked for them. ...

I think it is significant that I have so much more support from contributors in the district than either one of the other candidates. I don’t think Washington insiders and power brokers in Albany should be selecting our next representative, and I don’t think the people of western New York feel that way either.

I’m telling people: If you like the way things have been done, if you feel you’ve been treated well by Washington insiders and Albany power brokers, then there’s a candidate in this race who’s for you — and it is not me. But if you want an independent voice and someone who’s going to work only for you, then there is only one candidate in the race for you and that’s me.

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Q: Rate your chances, realistically ...

A: I’m going to win. Sixty percent of voters in the Democratic primary are older women. In general, I would say this demographic group knows how to evaluate the key qualities that I think I have, experience, passion for the job and judgment. And I think people on the other side of the gender line are going to be able to see that as well.

The only endorsement that counts is the endorsement of the voters on Election Day. I don’t know what your experience has been in this regard, but we’ve recently seen in Erie County that voters are very unhappy with candidates who are hand picked by party insiders, when they don’t have the demonstrated competence to get the job done.