Region
First potential Hall challenger steps forward

By Martin Wilbur

This week marks the 100^th day that Congressman John Hall has been in office but already he has at least one would-be Republican challenger for 2008.

Peekskill resident and Marine reservist Kieran Lalor has formed a Congressional Exploratory Committee to test the waters and potentially take on Hall when the freshman representative is expected to run for re-election.

Lalor, 31, who served in Iraq in 2003, is the first Republican to state publicly he will be seeking the 2008 GOP nomination to take on Hall.

Raised in Wappingers Falls, Lalor said he was inspired to run for the seat in the 19^th Congressional District immediately after Hall defeated six-term incumbent Sue Kelly in November.

Even though Hall won the general election by a little more than two percent, Lalor portrayed the Dover Plains Democrat as an ultraliberal who is out of touch with most residents in the 19^th District.

His campaign has raised more than $20,000, proof, he said, that there will be a clamor to return the district to a conservative Republican.

“The early support for my candidacy is confirmation that voters in the district are excited to embrace a true conservative,” Lalor said.

“It took John Hall, someone who is so far to the left, to empower this grassroots campaign,” he added.

Lalor, who is expected to graduate from Pace University Law School next month, said he has already made contact with Republican chairs from all five counties that comprise the district and most have been receptive to his candidacy.

Conservative doctrine

Winning the war in Iraq, keeping taxes low and embracing traditional values are Lalor’s key objectives.

Stemming the tide against illegal immigration is another issue that the he plans to drumbeat on the campaign trail.

He said Kelly had trouble against Hall not because she supported the Iraq war—hawks like Peter King on Long Island and Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman won by big margins on Election Day—but because the former Congresswoman wavered from true conservatism.

Lalor said the country needs to stay in Iraq to insure the fledgling democracy is equipped to function on its own and to protect it from the terrorists.

When he returned home from Iraq, he realized that anti-war liberals like Hall were undermining the nation’s efforts against terror.

The former social studies teacher at Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie before he enrolled in the Marine reserves and law school, said his policy approach is very straightforward.

“Protect people from the terrorists, protect people’s wallets from the government and stand up for traditional values,” Lalor explained.

At a Dutchess County meeting of New York Young Republicans in February, Lalor was introduced as the man who would “send John Hall back to Woodstock,” an apparent reference to the singer/songwriter’s stances on key issues and a derisive comment about his former career.

Hall unfazed

At a meeting this week with North County News staff, Hall said he has never heard of Lalor and expected him to be joined by other Republican hopefuls during the next year.

Hall said that while the district is conservative in some ways, the populace can also be centrist, progressive and liberal depending on the issue.

“I’m all of those,” Hall said.” I’m libertarian in some ways. I think there are some parts of our personal lives the government shouldn’t meddle in. But I also think we shouldn’t drive our children and grandchildren into debt the way this Republican, totally Republican administration executive and both houses of Congress have done for the last six years.”

People may believe his music background automatically qualifies him as a liberal that is inaccurate. Entertainers such as Sonny Bono, Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fred Thompson were all elected as Republicans.

But Lalor, who founded the Eternal Vigilance Society, a website dedicated to winning the war on terror, ramped up the rhetoric, He said on the site that Hall’s liberal stances will get him defeated in the next election.

“Congressman Hall must realize that he represents a district that is home to West Point and 77,000 military veterans,” Lalor is quoted as saying. “If he ignores us and caters to the Hollywood liberals who got him into office, he will undoubtedly become a one-hit wonder.”

Martin Wilbur can be reached a mwilbur@northcountynews.com or at 914-962-4748 x. 266.