News & Media>Press Room

WILL CHRIS LEE REMEMBER TO VOTE ON TUESDAY?
Lee Rarely Votes, Dodges Debates, Avoids Tough Issues

October 31, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Anne Wadsworth
(716) 803-4463

Amherst, NY — This Tuesday, Chris Lee will likely be someplace he rarely frequents: a voting booth. Of the past 21 elections, including primaries, Lee has voted in only six.  He even chose not to vote in the important Erie County Executive race one year ago, and has not voted in a primary in ten years.

Such a sparse voting record might seem unusual from someone who is now asking for people to vote him into Congress, but for Lee it is par for the course.  He has shown the same lack of interest in the issues facing Western New York throughout his campaign.

Lee has been a notorious debate dodger, skipping 15 of the 18 candidate forums and public debates.  Just last week, he had his campaign manager call in to falsely attack Alice Kryzan on WBEN 930-AM's "Hardline with Hardwick" program after refusing to debate Kryzan on the show himself.

Lee has refused to explain his policy positions to voters, and recently declined to tell the AARP, the nation's leading organization representing seniors and those nearing retirement, where he stands on the crucial issues of Social Security, Medicare, pensions, and retirement. 

When the financial crisis hit, Lee was silent.  His reasoning for failing to take a stand on the issue: he wasn't in Congress yet.  With that sort of attitude, he shouldn't be.

Lee's unwillingness to offer solutions to the challenges facing Western New York led the Democrat and Chronicle to conclude that Lee had "failed to offer enough new ideas" and that his inability to offer a coherent response to the financial crisis "didn't jibe."

Instead of spending his time speaking with voters about the issues that matter to them, Chris Lee has launched a series of desperate attack ads against Alice Kryzan, each one less factual than the last.

"Chris Lee has spent millions of dollars on a negative campaign, but has not offered Western New Yorkers a single reason why we should vote for him," said spokesperson Anne Wadsworth. "Chris Lee's misleading and negative ads are a smokescreen for a campaign that is devoid of real solutions to improve Western New York's economy and create jobs here at home." 

###
Paid for and Authorized by Kryzan for Congress