Indivisible Oswego County Hosts 4 Candidates Running Against District 24’s Claudia Tenney

by Jose Hernandez | February 25, 2026 9:35 am

By Jose Hernandez

OSWEGO – Indivisible Oswego County (IOC) held its 4th public town hall meeting. The town hall brought together local Democrats and Republicans to meet candidates running against Claudia Tenney to represent the 24th District.

Tenney was invited to the meeting, but did not attend, although IOC did bring out a cut out of Tenney.

The 4 candidates are Democrats, Alissa Ellman and Diana Kastenbaum, Independent Kenneth Estes Jr., and Republican D. John McDairment.

All 4 gave speeches to the audience, and for the last hour of the event, sat and talked to their potential constituents.

Organizer Paul McKinney extended invitations to all democrats and republican officials in the county.

“We like to think we’re being open and honest with each other,” said McKinney.

In the crowd were members of local government, including Oswego councilors Bill Myer (5th Ward) and Chance Kennedy (1st Ward), District Legislature Minority Leader Marie Schadt (D-19), Minority Whip Lee Walker (D-15), District Legislators Joe Arduini (D-22), Dorthy Caldwell (D-17), and Chris Novak (D-16), and Fulton Mayor Jim Rice.

“We’re having a town hall, we’re centered around 3 issues,” said McKinney, “number 1, we want to bring people up to date on the activities IOC is doing, we want to introduce people in Oswego County to the 4 candidates that are running for the District 24 representative seat, then we’re going to give people an opportunity to visit some of the service organizations that are here and meet the 4 candidates personally.”

The town hall was conceptualized in January. The people at IOC felt that recent times were a cause for concern and that the town hall meeting was imperative.

The 1st candidate to speak was Diana Kastenbaum.

Kastenbaum is from Batavia, NY, and threw her hat in the ring on July 1st.

She has 3 major goals: to restore the Department of Education, reform healthcare, and reform deportation policy.

“On that particular day, Reverend Leah Ntuala from Seneca Falls walked 80 miles to bring attention to everyone about the deportations,” said Kastenbaum. “ I hosted her in my home.”

The next day, they held a rally at her home and marched the remaining mile to the detention center.

It is believed that Jesus walked 80 miles during significant journeys in his life.

Kastenbaum’s husband was Hiram Kasten, whom she met in NYC and lived with in LA for 25 years.

She ran her own tech company, where she trained and developed software programs for large law firms.

Moving back in 2012, she took over her family’s tool and die casting business.

She was appointed by Andrew Cuomo as a trustee at Genesee Community College. She helped lobby for Governor Kathy Hochul’s new policy allowing adults aged 25-55 to attend community college for free.

While working in metal, she learned a lot about metal tolerances and bought metals on the London Metal Market, imported from Canada.

She sold the business in 2023 and believes that if she had kept the business, it would have gone bankrupt.

She cites tariffs as the main reason. Prices for metals like aluminum and steel have risen, and this is commonly attributed to US tariff policies.

“I have a huge amount of business experience, I know how to do payroll, I know how to buy metal, and I know how to do human resources. I was a 1-man band doing that. I had to make sure my workers had a safe working environment. Make sure they had health care,” said Kastenbaum, “all of the things that go along with running a business. I’m bringing that experience to the table.”

Kastenbaum lost her husband 18 months ago. The town hall was held on Valentines Day and clearly had an effect on Kastenbaum.

“I love my husband. I took care of my husband. Turned our 1st floor into a hospital. Hospice gave me 4 hours a week,” said Kastenbaum.

Her father, a WW2 vet, was dying at the same time, all the while she was trying to sell her business.

One day, while helping her husband to the commode, they both fell. She asked for help from hospice and was denied due to the worker having too much paperwork.

She called an ambulance, and he was given 3 months to live. She was able to take him to a comfort care center. “I was not putting him in a nursing home.”

Hoping to inform people that further medical cuts are happening and that rehabilitation centers are closing, they’re going to have to take their families in and care for them.

“I have come to the conclusion that our health care system is totally broken; we need to have single payer,” she said.

Single-payer health insurance would remove private entities from the health insurance market and make a single public entity the sole provider.

Knowing it’s not a centrist idea, but promises that if sent to Washington, it will be the 1st thing she goes for.

“Health care should be a right, not a privilege. But we can’t talk about it anymore because of this roller coaster that the Republicans and Democrats have been on, always catering to insurance companies, which doesn’t work. People are falling into the traps.”

Kastenbaum grew up in a Jewish family. She and her husband’s family had members who were in the holocaust.

They were told that something like the holocaust could happen in the United States and today believes that it is.

“It is happening here, we are living in a fascist state.”

She and her adoptive daughter have experienced prejudice, such as racial slurs and gestures. Her daughter is Chinese.

“I am viewed as the other, as is my daughter. Anybody that has a handicap child is the other under Trump and Tenney. If you are trans, lesbian, or gay you are the other. If you are a candidate running for office, you are a target and considered the other. Just being activists and democrats, you are the other.”

Not wanting to be the other and inspired by racial and social prejudice, she plans to fight for marginalized groups.

“When I go to Washington, I promise you, I promise you, I will make sure that I fight for our 1st amendment rights, that I fight for every single one of you, everyone who is the other.”

Next to speak was Independent Kenneth Estes Jr.

“Have you ever been to a place that has impacted you in your prior life and come back to that place? For me, that is Oswego,” said Estes.

Estes was a student at Cornell University. 35 years ago, he came to Oswego as part of a class that was participating in a design competition for a civic center here.

He did not win but later found his purpose and was grateful for the time here that helped him transition into his 25+ year design career.

Estes ran a design firm, serving clients in New York and Ohio.

A farmer, he found living in Oswego difficult due to the high maintenance and the lack of vacation opportunities.

“We typically are taking care of our animals, and the only time we get to go away to travel is for a horse show or a farm show,” said Estes.

His family immigrated here in the 1600s. He is the 7th generation that is rooted here in Oswego. His family started farming in 1832. He is currently a farmer, albeit part-time.

He is also an extension agent working as an agricultural educator.

He begins his class with two things, which he asked the audience to indulge him in following his instructions.

Estes asked the audience to close their eyes, find a comfortable position, and control their breathing.

The exercise is to help relieve stress, stress he personally feels due to the current state of the country.

The next thing he does is pay respect to the Onondaga Nation, the original caretakers of the land we currently stand on.

Working on his family’s farm, he realized he could not support a family on his income, so he went to school.

Receiving an associate’s degree from SUNY Morrisville in Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation, he attributes his background and family to his interest in the field.

“Growing up on a farm, the environment has always been a key component to my upbringing. Sustainability and conservation is at the roots of everything I do and continue to do, whether I get elected or not,” he said.

Facing a fork in the road, choosing between SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry or Cornell, he chose to attend his father’s alma mater.

He received a degree in Landscape Architecture from Cornell. Then, starting a design-build farm, he continued working on the farm part-time.

The design firm’s business ran strong for 25 years. 10 years ago, he had the chance to join the board of Cornell Cooperative Extension. He saw it as an opportunity to return to his agricultural roots and became an educator.

Deciding to get his master’s at 55, he returned to school and earned a degree in Community and Economic Development.

“That opportunity provided me to advocate for some of the things I’m most passionate about. That is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and our food system and food security.”

Estes hopes to combat food deserts and insecurities.

“Communities believe that their access to food is a convenience store.”

He believes that people think their food system is limited to what’s available on shelves.

During his 2024 capstone research, he believes there is a knowledge gap in food security that is not being explained to families.

“There is a correlation; if you know how to grow food, you are much more likely to purchase healthy food,” he said.

As a farmer, his only chance to get insurance was to get 2nd job. Believing there should be a system that is strictly health and wellbeing-focused, integrating 4 principles: housing, food systems, sustainable agriculture, and a clean environment.

Next was Republican David John McDairment from Warsaw, Indiana.

He is running as a Republican and claims to be running as a ‘Clown for Congress’.

“It is a serious thing, but it’s supposed to be funny,” said McDairment.

“Congress is a clown show. We need to move the conversation away from culture wars and focus on things that really matter.”

McDariment said that the biggest issue he is concerned with is peace, specifically regarding immigration. The 2nd being pro-labor and union issues.

McDairment believes the best way to represent his Republican constituents is to also run as a Republican. He believes that injecting himself into the race in the party gives those within the party more options.

McDairment read a poem by the farmer poet Wendell Berry, called ‘Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front.’ The poem calls for rejecting modern consumerism and returning to nature.

He grew up in Indiana, the youngest of 7 children. He was raised in an evangelical church and today considers himself a Christian Quaker.

He holds a degree in International Business and Biblical Studies from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, and later an MBA with a focus in Finance and Accounting from Purdue University.

He spent a decade working for Robert Bosch, a German multinational corporation, primarily in the Building Technologies division in the Fairport/Macedon area. He then worked for a nonprofit finance organization for 3 years.

Touching on immigration and the protest in Minneapolis.

“When someone comes to the US illegally and commits a crime, they should be locked up and deported,” he said, “when it comes to our friends and neighbors who have been here for years, follow the law, pay their taxes, they are contributing to our society. Let’s have a truce and find a way to give these people a pathway to legal status.”

He believes it’s his job to sell that to 20,000 Republicans. By doing so, he believes he would be sending a message to Donald Trump that we want peace, not war, in our streets.

McDairment claims to be a pro-union Republican, something seen as uncommon.

“Unions don’t just represent federal workers; they’re city and state employees, private sector unions, all kinds of things. The reason I support unions more than the individual concerns of a union, it is the only proven counter to corporate power.”

Claiming not to be anti-corporate, he believes they are making decisions for all of us, and that the government is following suit to appease them.

Bringing in about $5 trillion in revenue, McDairment says the government spends $7 trillion, pushing the country further into debt.

“We cut and cut and cut federal spending. It is time to look at the revenue side of the equation and figure out how we can bring in more revenue. That doesn’t mean I want to raise taxes on the middle class. No raising taxes via tariffs on people who buy things for everyday life. I mean to raise taxes on the people doing the best.”

He believes people agree on most things, such as environmental concerns, education, and infrastructure.

Last to speak was Alissa Ellman.

Ellman is a veteran, working in Afghanistan. She was a special education teacher in Lockport, New York. She is also a cancer survivor.

In 2025, she was working with veterans, helping them secure their benefits. She was fired after the Department of Government Efficiency implemented cuts.

After organizing town halls in her local Tenney to talk about her votes in DC. They received no response from Tenney, so Ellman decided to run for her seat.

“I’m so proud to be sitting here with these 3 other candidates. I’m so happy we were able to be polite and kind to one another, because we are all on the right side of fascism.”

After being ‘DOGE’d’ from the VA, Ellman felt helpless. Her time working with emotionally disturbed children helped her clarify the situation.

“We always talked about the difference between reacting to a problem and responding to a problem. Reaction is an automatic defense mechanism, while responding is a thoughtful process of evaluation on what is the most productive way to reach a goal,” explained Ellman.

She viewed posting on social media as a reaction and chose to run as a response.

Ellman claims to be filled with hope after being at the IOC town hall.

“I don’t have time to get into the weeds of specific policies today, I agree with everyone that spoke in a lot of ways. What I can tell you is that I will lead with bold character, unshakable values, and an openness to new ideas and radical hope for the future of our country that I love.”

Instead of rehashing the topics of the other candidates, she chose to speak about her feeling that there are foundational problems.

Ellman vowed to help change foundational problems and promised not take a single corporate dollar.

“I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing this for my friends, my neighbors, my community, the people who shoveled my driveway while I was going through my cancer treatment. I’m doing this for you. Not for Bezos or Sam Walton. I’m doing this to stand up for what’s right. No matter the financial or personal cost.”

“We’re living in a time that is going to require heroes and heroic acts to save our country and our value system. When you are feeling helpless, ask yourself, if not us, who? If not now, when? It has always been the ordinary people who become heroes.”

 

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/indivisible-oswego-county-hosts-4-candidates-running-against-district-24s-claudia-tenney/

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