The candidate:

Tompkins County Council Chairwoman Martha Robertson, a Democrat.
The member: Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican.

The member:

 Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican.
The district: New York’s 23rd District is a competitive seat. Voters picked GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 by a 1-point margin, and in 2008 they elected President Barack Obama by the same margin.

The district:

 New York’s 23rd District is a competitive seat. Voters picked GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 by a 1-point margin, and in 2008 they elected President Barack Obama by the same margin.
The candidate’s team: Snyder Pickerill (media); Normington, Petts, and Associates (polling); The Strategy Group (mail).

The candidate’s team:

Tompkins County Council Chairwoman Martha Robertson, a Democrat challenging GOP Rep. Tom Reed in New York’s 23rd District, called the recent brouhaha over an alleged hacking of her campaign website “a distraction” from the race in an interview with CQ Roll Call earlier this month.

Republicans have been pressuring Robertson to provide proof that GOP operatives attempted to hack her campaign website. Robertson made that claim in a Sept. 30 fundraising email.

“We’re working to hire a cyber-security firm to take a serious look at that and investigate everything that happened. Beyond that it’s really better to leave it up to them,” Robertson said in an Oct. 9 interview. “At the end of the day I think … it’s beyond a distraction. [Voters] are concerned about their pocketbook issues — whether or not their Social Security and Medicare payments are going to be there as they depend on them.”

New York’s 23rd District is rated a Lean Republican contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.

This series questions the scores of congressional hopefuls who visit the CQ Roll Call offices each cycle. Responses and questions in the video have been edited and condensed. Have a question for a candidate? Follow us at @RollCallPols to learn about upcoming interviews.

Previous candidate interviews:

• North Carolina Senate: Republican Thom Tillis
• Alaska Senate: Republican Mead Treadwell
• South Carolina Senate: Republican Lee Bright
• Iowa Senate: Republican David Young
• Kentucky Senate: Republican Matt Bevin
• Illinois’ 12th: Republican Mike Bost
• Idaho’s 2nd: Republican Bryan Smith
• Michigan’s 14th: Democrat Rudy Hobbs 
• California’s 45th: Republican Mimi Walters 
• Iowa Senate: Republican Matt Whitaker 
• Nebraska Senate: Republican Shane Osborn 
• Minnesota’s 6th: Republican Tom Emmer
• Minnesota’s 6th: Democrat Jim Graves
• Florida’s 2nd: Democrat Gwen Graham 
• Pennsylvania’s 13th: Democrat Daylin Leach