'Standing Room Only' Crowd Attends Gies Town Hall in Jamestown

An overflow crowd was on hand for the first of 100 town halls the Democratic challenger for New York's 23rd Congressional District is vowing to hold through Election Day. Olean's Aaron Gies addressed approximately 125 people at the Fireplace Room of the Prendergast Library in Jamestown on Thursday. Gies explained incumbent Republican Nick Langworthy's lack of response to the plight of Ukrainian refugees sparked his desire to run. He says there are still good people in Congress, but money has corrupted the system...

Aaron Gies: how things are done now

Gies says he comes from a working class family, and he's currently on leave as a professor at St. Bonaventure University. He blames President Donald Trump for many of the problems now facing rural communities...

Aaron Gies: Nick is a rubber stamp for Trump

Gies says he wants to work to stop the loss of jobs and population in the Southern Tier, including the loss of 14,000 in Chautauqua County the past 20 years. Gies was aware that Langworthy was speaking earlier in the day at a CHQ Chamber event, but was only talking about the "positives"...

Aaron Gies: won't talk about negatives

Gies spoke for about 10 minutes before opening up the floor for questions. His campaign plans to soon announce the dates and times of the other town hall meetings he plans to host in Chautauqua County.

Photos by Aaron Gies for Congress Campaign