House Candidate Duane Jackson to Serve as Buchanan Trustee

BUCHANAN, N.Y. – Congressional candidate Duane Jackson (D-Buchanan) will likely be sworn into office as a Village of Buchanan Trustee, at the board's May 1 meeting, according to Mayor Sean Murray.  Jackson will fill a seat left vacant by former trustee, Jane Hitney.

“We chose him because he wanted to become active in the community, he’s a long time member of the community, he’s got a lot of good fresh ideas,” said Murray about why Jackson was selected.

Jackson is running for New York’s current 18th Congressional District, he was formerly running for the 19th Congressional District before a federal judge eliminated two districts from New York’s federal districts map.

A street vendor in Times Square, Jackson’s name was in headlines when he foiled a terrorist car bomb plot in 2010, after spotting the smoking SUV. Jackson will have to primary two other Democrats for the party nomination, Richard Becker, a cardiologist and council member for the Town of Cortlandt, and Sean Patrick Maloney, an attorney and former aide in Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s administration.

Jackson said he will only be able to hold the Buchanan trustee seat a short period of time, he said until late June primary, because “Once we win the primary, I’ll take a leave of absence from that particular point and move forward with the general campaign. We’re taking it incrementally.”

Jackson said he is undeterred by the fact that he has been out-fundraised by Becker by a factor of more than 16, with Becker’s fundraising at $369,252 and Jackson’s at $22,300, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.

“It’s not rocket science, you read over what’s been proposed and hopefully be able to bring a voice to the village trustee that hopefully will be able to make sense for the village,” said Jackson.

He said he could not comment on any current village issues and would not be voting on any resolutions during Tuesday evening’s meeting and budget adoption because, he said, he “just got the packet yesterday, probably won’t be voting on that after the swearing in because I don’t know the issues well enough to speak factually about that. But again, my whole thing is to try and step into the shoes that Jane Hitney left, so she was not only one of my neighbors but a good person for the village.”

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