NEW YORK 19th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT — Jeff Beals says of the seven Democrats running for the chance to go up against Republican John Faso in the fall, his campaign is the most progressive. He says he can run such a campaign because the majority of his campaign donations come from small donors, not corporate special interest.

He said in a phone interview, “Getting money out of politics isn’t meaningful when a candidate offers it as a priority; the candidate has to do it in their campaign, and that’s why I’ve been proud to be running the only true grass-roots campaign in the district. We have not gone the traditional route that other campaigns have gone, racking up big donations from corporate lobbyists and special-interest groups outside our district; we refuse to do it. And that’s why we’ve been able to put forward the most progressive platform in this race.”

He supports Resolution 676, which would enact Medicare for all, he has signed the Off Fossil Fuel Pledge. Further he said, “I’m standing up for a federal jobs guarantee and fair drug prices at a time when giant corporations don’t want us to pass any of those policies, because they’re making a fortune bilking people with their prices. And they are exploiting workers on the lower rung of the labor market because of a limitless supply of unemployed people who can always replace the workers that they fail to pay adequately.”

Beals served as an intelligence officer in the CIA, then served as a diplomat in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Iraq. A post on his website says, “Fluent in Arabic, I faced down insurgents to set up the first diplomatic talks between our ambassador, our generals and the insurgency. I helped bring warring factions together to create a constitution for Iraq and was decorated by both the U.S. Army and the State Department.”

Now, he says, “I want to use my experience as a diplomat to speak against the endless war and militarism that have come to dominate U.S. foreign policy. We are wasting billions on a bloated Pentagon budget, all while American strength is sapped because working people can’t get by. I support putting that money to work at home with a federal jobs guarantee, putting people to work building a green infrastructure in our country to end our dependence on fossil fuel.”

Like others in the race, one of Beals’ top concerns is healthcare. “We have to pass Medicare for all, now, and I’m the only candidate you can trust to do that. We have a health crises in the district that to me has reached a breaking point. People are dying because of a lack of care, or under coverage, or of fear of seeing a doctor because of what their deductible will be, or the bill they will face. That’s unconscionable. We’re the wealthiest country in the world, and somehow the rest of the world has left us behind.”

Beals now teaches school and lives with his wife and two children in Woodstock. He says he is one of only two candidates who were in the district to cast a vote against John Faso in 2016.

Beals has been endorsed by the Justice Democrats, a national group that supports “candidates that are committed to refusing corporate PAC money and fighting for a progressive vision.”