Army service in Iraq is the focus of Powers' congressional campaign
Veteran is backed by unions and Democratic leaders
At 30, Jon Powers ranks as one of the youngest candidates in local history to mount a serious campaign for the House of Representatives.
Some question whether he has compiled a strong enough resume to claim the seat of retiring Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, a Clarence Republican. Powers counters with one word: Iraq.
His other credentials include a degree from John Carroll University as well as serving as a champion of Iraqi youth, veterans advocate and former substitute teacher in the Clarence School District.
But without question, Powers’ self-definition — as well as the microscope through which others view him — comes from his tour of duty as an Army captain in Iraq.
The experience forged his views on Middle East policy, treatment of veterans at home and how the United States can protect Iraq’s children from Islamic extremists.
He now stakes his political future on Iraq, which pushed him to mount a congressional candidacy without benefit of the personal wealth of his two opponents in the Democratic primary. But he has strong grass-roots support, and most of the Democratic establishment is pulling for him.
“The community that I grew up in, believed in and went to war for . . . no longer has a voice in Washington,” he said in a recent interview. “The campaign has been about going out and having a conversation with these folks.”
Powers, a Williamsville resident, has entered an entirely new war zone since declaring his candidacy more than one year ago. He faces Jack Davis, of Clarence, who has promised to spend $3 million of his own money in his third attempt to capture the Reynolds seat, and Alice J. Kryzan, an Amherst attorney who has loaned her campaign $160,000 so far.
Christopher J. Lee of Clarence, the Republican candidate, also brings substantial personal wealth to the fight and promises to spend “whatever it takes” to win.
Rough campaign
The campaign so far has proved rough and bruising. The Davis team has revealed that Powers was cited for disorderly conduct in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, back in 2004. (He pleaded no-contest to a reduced charge.) His role in War Kids Relief, the nonprofit organization he founded to aid Iraqi youth, also has come under fire.
Questions have surrounded the way Powers handles his campaign money, with the Federal Election Commission chiding him for using donations to pay rent on the building that doubled as his home and his election headquarters.
The Davis campaign even questioned his credentials as a substitute teacher.
But for all his challenges and youth, Powers has established himself as a formidable force. Leonard R. Lenihan, chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party and one of his staunchest allies, says the Davis attacks prove opponents fear Powers.
Powers says he brings something special to the campagn.
“To be honest, I’m the only candidate in this race doing it for my country,” he said.
Since he entered the contest more than a year ago, Powers said, his conversations have centered around young people leaving the state for jobs, laid-off autoworkers coping with gasoline at $4 per gallon or “disgust” over benefits for returning veterans.
As for Iraq, “If more folks in Washington had asked the right questions, this all would have come out a lot differently,” he said.
Powers argued that no one considered the next step after Saddam Hussein’s defeat. He also noted that he experienced firsthand the chaos of post-invasion Iraq and the ensuing insurgency. The priority, he said, was making the country a haven for U. S. contractors rather than restoring basic services.
“I was not surprised to see the first roadside bomb,” he said.
Fund under fire
Powers has encountered his toughest criticism of the campaign for War Kids Relief, which aimed to raise $7 million for youth centers, orphanages and other programs. The effort set out to win the hearts and minds of Iraqi youth already vulnerable to the influence of radical Islam.
“We became the leading voice for the children of Iraq because very few people were looking for real solutions,” he said.
Powers tried to accomplish his goals. He was hired by the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation to implement the program, wrote articles in scholarly journals and was the subject of several national news stories. But when Congress failed to appropriate any money, War Kids essentially faded away, although it now fosters cultural exchanges between U. S. and Iraqi youth.
The Davis campaign jumped on the failure of War Kids to accomplish its goals.
“He made big promises, but all he did was pay himself a fat salary and grab headlines without serving the children he promised to help,” spokesman Luke Vaughn said.
Powers also was criticized for taking a salary from Vietnam Veterans and from War Kids that represented a significant percentage of the money raised for the program.
But the Iraq veteran saw it differently, and so did many of his supporters. He was backed by letters to the editor and much of the blogosphere, claiming he was unfairly criticized for attempting — albeit unsuccessfully — to attack a problem.
“The Jon Powers I know today is the same guy I met in Baghdad, who, like thousands of other service members, saw people in need and figured out ways to help them, often in the face of bureaucratic indifference,” filmmaker Michael Tucker, a fellow Iraq veteran, wrote in a letter to Everybody’s Column of The Buffalo News.
The candidate also insists that his efforts raised a new awareness inside and outside the government to the problem.
Abortion controversy
But the Powers campaign lists other objectives. He wants to take advantage of top-notch educational institutions such as the University of Rochester and University at Buffalo to partner with developing technologies. He wants to find a way to transfer those developments to local small business and lists as a top priority convening an “economic summit” to map out a development strategy for Western New York.
“It’s not just about Washington,” he said. “We need to get in this together to solve problems.
Some also have found Powers’ position on abortion controversial. Last year, he told The News he had not formulated an opinion. This year, he said he is pro-choice but did not want his grandmother to read about his stand in the newspaper.
“I got a chance to sit down and talk to my grandmother about it,” he said. “She looked me in the eye and said this is a decision around the kitchen table and not in Washington. It’s a decision that should be made by a woman and her family.”
All of this has led to substantial support for Powers from traditional Democratic sources. He is endorsed by all seven county organizations in the 26th District and virtually all labor unions. He even has attracted the attention of Washington Democrats.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which usually stays neutral in primaries, has vocally backed Powers and made his case known to myriad funding groups. As a result, Powers has raised enough money to get on television, begin introducing himself to voters and counter the massive amounts of media ads already purchased by Davis.
He says he believes he is making progress, and large numbers of volunteers working across the district in his “Powers Platoons” are going door to door while Davis concentrates on the media.
“We have money, but we also have people,” he said.
