Green Party challenger vies for Ortt’s seat
Diachun, 75, of
The act would provide universal health care to every
Diachun hopes to be the vote that drastically changes how New Yorkers receive and pay for health insurance.
"All the (richer) countries in the world have single-payer systems. They've realized some work better than others for different reasons. I think they've come up with a very fine system" in the New York Health Act, Diachun said.
Diachun said he also strongly supports state government reforms, especially term limits, and is frustrated with career politicians' focus on fundraising and reelection. As a planned one-term state senator, he said he would have no need for campaigning.
"I would spend my time finding the right thing to do about each issue," Diachun said.
Diachun said he also supports continuing a statewide ban on large-scale hydraulic fracturing -- a natural gas extraction method more commonly known as "fracking" -- and supports legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
"We've done a lot of damage to our society by criminalizing marijuana for as long as we have," he said.
On other contentious issues, such as the minimum wage increases and the SAFE Act, Diachun demurred, saying that as a
And while the
However, as a native of
Diachun left the
"I probably would have been a Democrat, but I got a little sick of both parties," he said.
Diachun, who worked much of his career at Carborundum and has never held public office, said he was inspired to run after seeing that Ortt had no challenger in 2016. Though he acknowledges he faces long odds -- Ortt won with nearly two-thirds of the vote against his last opponent, in 2014 -- Diachun said he felt someone should challenge the
Initially, Diachun approached "younger progressives," but none were interested in running. So he filed petitions to run himself.
"I thought this is ridiculous. We've got a guy who's unwilling to support an important piece of legislation, and we've thrown away a vote," he said. "You'd think at least a minor party would put up some resistance."
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