Long Island

Liuba’s coming for Pete

Liuba Grechen Shirley is the congressional candidate who changed the game on campaign child care, and now she's looking to dethrone Rep. Pete King.

Liuba Grechen Shirley

Liuba Grechen Shirley Courtesy Grechen Shirley for Congress

Fresh off her decisive primary win in the Second Congressional District against fellow Democrat DuWayne Gregory, beating him by 16 percentage points, Liuba Grechen Shirley has her eyes set on seismic upset on Long Island in the general election. Grechen Shirley says that Rep. Pete King is vulnerable and has never had a serious challenger in his 25-year reign. The argument sounds suspiciously familiar to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s potent logic that led to the fall of Queens Rep. Joseph Crowley. Could King be next?

City & State’s Frank G. Runyeon spoke with the Grechen Shirley the day after her primary victory to hear how she did it and what her plan of attack will be in the general election.

C&S: How did you win it?

LGS: We built a grassroots movement. We had hundreds of people knocking on doors. We've knocked on 10,000 in the last four days alone. People are standing up and they are actually talking about the issues that matter to them, that matter to people all across Long Island and all across the country. I started New York's 2nd District Democrats after the (2016) election. I wanted to get even more involved in politics. I reached out to the local Democratic Party and local elected officials and I didn't get very far, so I started a group and started posting daily action alerts and organizing rallies and meet-and-greets and protests. And people got involved.

C&S: You got a lot of media attention after the FEC ruled in your favor, allowing you to use campaign funds for child care. Was that a turning point in the primary?

LGS: The FEC, that was a landmark ruling. It made Congress more accessible to working parents and it'll change the landscape of the candidates that we see running in 2020.

C&S: Your opponent, DuWayne Gregory, opposed your request to the FEC. Do you feel like that had an impact on the primary result? On whether people chose to vote for you?

LGS: It may have. And it was disappointing that my primary challenger didn't approve of it. Maybe there were people who that made them think. We need people who are willing to stand up and think out of the box and to work to make Congress and politics in general more accessible to working people.

C&S: Rep. Pete King is a long-serving Republican congressman. People say he’s entrenched. If you look at Roll Call or the Cook Political Report, they haven't been looking at this race as competitive. Are you seeing something that they aren't?

LGS: It's absolutely a competitive race. This is a district that we can take back. King has been in office for 25 years because he hasn't faced many serious challenges. We have more individual contributors than anyone who has ever run against him in his 25 years in office. We're raising more money than anyone who has run against him in the last 12 years. He's not as popular as he thinks he is. There are people all across this district who are sick and tired of his voting record and how it hurts people in this district. King is vulnerable.

C&S: On the subject of money, since you raised the topic, King does have $3,000,000 cash on hand to your $142,000. Do you feel like you can close the gap?

LGS: I do. I'm confident that we'll be able to raise the funds necessary to challenge King, to unseat him.

C&S: Now all you need is a couple million dollars.

LGS: (Laughs.) Exactly. Which we are going to raise!

C&S: Do you know where you're going to get that money?

LGS: From small-dollar donations across the district, across New York state, across the country. We're going to need the support of Democrats and progressive-minded people across the country. Our average donation is less than $100 and we've raised $126,000 in the first two months. We've raised well over half a million dollars at this point and we're going to continue raising the money from the grass roots. I've signed a pledge not to take any corporate PAC money. This is small-dollar donations from people who want to unseat Peter King and who want a representative who will stand up for working families on Long Island.

C&S: Some say Long Island is Trump country and King has definitely put himself in that corner. Beyond raising the funds, what's your game plan? How are you going to win the general election?

LGS: Peter King is the one who says Long Island is Trump country. We actually have 9,000 more registered Democrats in our district. I have been knocking on doors and talking to Democrats, but a lot of those Democrats are married to Republicans. I have to tell you that so many Republicans have said that they are disheartened with Peter King's voting record and how he continually works against working people in our district. And I have been told so many time by a Republican that they are going to vote for me. I had a press conference in front of King's office this morning and a Republican came up to me. His wife had made a donation at the event last night. He came up to me and said, I'm a registered Republican, I couldn't vote for you, but I like your message, I like what you're talking about and I'm going to give you a donation. And you're going to have my vote in November.

C&S: So, you're going to be taking Republican votes, but do you think Trump voters will be voting for you?

LGS: When I was out knocking on doors, I've talked to a number of Trump voters who told me they plan to vote for me. I've talked to a number of them already.

C&S: I wouldn't have thought there wouldn’t be a lot of crossover there. But you think there is?

LGS: Yeah, well, we'll see. I'll leave the predictions to the pundits. I focus on talking to as many voters as possible.

C&S: One more question: Is there any challenge in this upcoming race that you're dreading or that you're worried about?

LGS: No! I'm excited. I could not be more excited. I'm so energized by talking to voters. I knocked doors for five days straight from sunup to sundown and I've talked to so many people. It's been incredible to see how fired up people are. I don't dread anything at this point! I'm so excited.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.