Ex-Congresswoman Ready to Return (Video)

By Abby Livingston and JM Rieger

Posted August 11, 2014 at 2:01pm

It’s easy to see former Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., misses Congress.

Earlier this year, she was spied making the rounds with her old colleagues on the House floor. More recently, in an interview with CQ Roll Call, she sported her Congressional pin.

“It was wonderful to be among colleagues from all across the country, all different political persuasions, representing the whole American spectrum,” she said on July 22. In 2012, Hayworth lost her bid for a second term to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., by about 4 percent. Their battle for the Hudson Valley-based 18th District is one of several rematches this fall.

The race was off the party’s competitive radar for much of the cycle, as Maloney frequently stomped Hayworth in fundraising. But in June, Hayworth infused her campaign with $500,000, boosting her prospects. “I’m fully committed to making sure we have the resources we need to win this election, for the right reasons,” she said of her capacity to self-fund her campaign
. “I’m the right fit for the Hudson Valley.” As for rival, she described Maloney as having “an air of privilege.”

“It crystalized really in the fact that he publicized using a drone for his wedding that is forbidden by FAA regulations,” she said in the interview. “Wouldn’t it be nice if all of us could just disregard the law that way ? But we can’t.”

“He sits on the committee that has jurisdiction over the FAA so he certainly should have known. And that is emblematic of a certain approach, ‘I am special,'” she added.

There is enough confusion about the legality of commercial drones to merit a New York Times story , and the congressman issued a statement to CQ Roll Call that previously appeared in other publications:

“Like most people who are about to get married, I wasn’t up-to-date on the lack of regulations around the emerging technology of a wedding photographer mounting a camera on a remote control helicopter, and a month after our wedding, even more judges have confirmed the absence of laws and regulations. Every day another group of photographers, filmmakers, farmers, search and rescue teams, or researchers are expressing their frustration with the total lack of clarity on a technology that could save lives or simply take a few wedding photos.”

The race is rated Democrat Favored by the Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.

Hayworth’s Team: E. O’Brien Murray (general consultant), Tarrance Group (polling), Majority Strategies (direct mail), Ed Traz of The Traz Group (also direct mail) and Jamestown & Associates (media).

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