Who will be running against Republican John Faso for Congress in 2018? Seven Democrats have announced they are running, and the State and National Affairs Committee of the Columbia County Democrats is meeting with all of them. So far, the committee has met with six.

Sue Sullivan lives in Ulster County and grew up in Otsego County.  She has worked as a hospital executive and as a not-for-profit director, and has significant fundraising experience. She has a masters degree in public administration from Marist College.

Jeff Beals is a former diplomat who now teaches U.S. humanities at Woodstock Day School in Saugerties. He served in the State Dept. where he mediated the drafting of Iraq's constitution and opened America's first talks with the insurgents. He served on Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy team.

Brian Flynn's family is from Greene County, and he lives in Elka Park. He is a small business owner, the president of AccuMED, and has fought against terrorism since his brother was killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing over Scotland.

Antonio Delgado grew up in Schenectady and now lives in Rhinebeck. He graduated from Colgate, was a Rhodes Scholar, and has a Harvard Law degree. He worked as a lawyer (Akin, Gump) in NYC.

Patrick Ryan grew up in Kingston. He does not yet live in the district. He served two terms in Afghanistan.

Steven Brisee is from Cold Spring. He works as a policy architect to keep banks in line.

Gareth Rhodes is from Ulster County. He is presently a Harvard law student. He has worked for Cuomo. The committee has not interviewed him yet.

Stay tuned for more information, and we’ll keep you posted about a candidate forum.

In the meantime, you can contact the committee’s chair, Pam Kline, at [email protected].