Credit: Pat Ryan Campaign
Pat Ryan, a fifth-generation native of Ulster County, grew up in Kingston, where his mother was a public school teacher and his father ran a small business. After graduating from Kingston High School, Ryan attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, then completed two combat tours in Iraq as an Army intelligence officer. He has since co-founded a technology company, Praescient Analytics, and served as Ulster County executive.
In August 2022, Ryan’s political career entered the national stage, when he won a special election to fill the congressional seat vacated by Antonio Delgado, who was appointed lieutenant governor. Running on a platform focused on defending reproductive rights and advocating for veterans, Ryan, a Democrat, earned 51.1% of the vote in the closely watched race against Republican Marcus Molinaro. He then went on to win the general election in November 2022 to represent New York’s 18th Congressional District, receiving 50.7% of the vote against Republican challenger Colin Schmitt.
Ryan said his military service has been central to shaping his views on leadership and governance. “What I learned as an Army officer and certainly what I learned as a county executive, is that it’s all about being at the ground level, talking to as many people as you possibly can, being present and engaged,” Ryan told the Herald in a recent interview. He emphasized his commitment to “servant leadership,” a principle he described as informing much of his work in public office.
During his three years as county executive, from 2019 to 2022, Ryan focused on local economic development and steering the county through the COVID-19 pandemic. He also led efforts to transform the former IBM site in Kingston, a property that had sat dormant for decades. His experience as an executive, he said, shaped his approach to managing budgets and building partnerships. Ryan has also pointed to his time running a technology company, which he said grew to more than 150 employees, as further grounding his understanding of job creation and worker-focused policies, including paid family leave.
In Congress, Ryan has turned his attention to the rising cost of living in the Hudson Valley, an issue he frames as central to his legislative agenda. “We’re working really hard on a lot of fronts, but most importantly on the affordability crisis that people are dealing with — how costs are rising and incomes aren’t keeping up,” he said. Ryan has introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at reducing housing costs, including measures to bring down mortgage rates. He has also introduced bills focused on healthcare, such as the Stopping Pharma Ripoffs and Drug Savings for All Act, aimed at lowering prescription drug prices.
On food costs, Ryan has worked across the aisle, introducing the Lowering Grocery Prices Act in partnership with Molinaro, who represents the 19th District. Ryan described his legislative efforts as part of a broader strategy to make the Hudson Valley “more affordable, more safe and really, more free.”
In discussing tax policy, Ryan emphasized the need for greater equity in the system, stating, “Right now in the United States, billionaires and big corporations are getting huge tax breaks while middle-and working-class Americans are paying far more.” Taxes, particularly the impact of the federal SALT (State and Local Tax) deduction cap, have also been a focus of Ryan’s work. He supports eliminating the cap, which he argues disproportionately affects middle-class families in his district. “When I was county executive, I cut property taxes, and that certainly is the approach I’m working here now in Congress,” Ryan said.
Credit: Pat Ryan Campaign
Utilities have been another major concern for Ryan, particularly the practices of Central Hudson, the utility company serving much of his district. Ryan has been critical of what he described as repeated billing issues and service interruptions, and he played a role in securing a $62-million settlement on behalf of constituents affected by these problems.
Reproductive rights remain a key issue for Ryan. “I support codifying the protections that were provided in Roe v. Wade for the last 50 years,” he said, referring to legislation he backs that would enshrine abortion rights in federal law. Ryan has also expressed concern about the potential revival of the Comstock Act, an 1860s law that he argues could be used to implement a national abortion ban. In his view, protecting reproductive rights is “a true issue of American freedom.”
Ryan has also made climate change a priority in Congress, where he sees an opportunity to create jobs through investments in renewable energy. “It’s not an either-or proposition,” he said, emphasizing both the moral imperative to address climate change and the economic benefits of doing so. Ryan pointed to the former IBM site near Kingston, now being repurposed for clean energy projects, as an example of how renewable energy initiatives can spur local job creation. He credited federal legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act for helping to attract these green energy investments to the Hudson Valley.
Immigration policy has been another area of focus for Ryan, particularly the need for bipartisan solutions to border security and asylum processing. “We’ve got to stop fighting about the problem and work in a bipartisan way to fix the problem,” he said. Ryan has supported efforts to increase the number of Border Patrol agents and to speed up asylum claims by adding judges. He expressed disappointment that a bipartisan Senate bill, which included these measures, was blocked, but remains optimistic that similar legislation could move forward.
Ryan said his experience in combat has also shaped his views on securing the border. “Having served 27 months in combat, I know what it means to secure a border,” he said, adding that he has supported bipartisan bills to address the flow of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into the United States.
When asked about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when an estimated 140 police officers were assaulted by rioters, Ryan said, “We’re in a dangerous moment right now,” describing the attack as “traitorous.” He emphasized the importance of upholding the Constitution, which he has sworn to defend both as an Army officer and as a Congressman.
Ryan’s broader mission, as he frames it, is finding common ground to deliver results. “We need more patriots and less politicians,” he said. “That’s very much the way that I try to operate here. There are a lot of folks that don’t understand that oath to the Constitution, that we have to put country over party, country over self, country over politics.”
Ryan spoke to his belief that many of his colleagues in congress seem more interested in political theatrics than delivering results for their constituents. “There are a number of folks here, my colleagues, who I think are more show horses than workhorses,” he said. “We need more workhorses. I work hard to be someone that puts my head down, does the work and serves all my constituents regardless of politics. I think that’s reflected in both my record and in how we’ve operated our office. Unfortunately, I think as folks hear more from my opponent, to me she’s essentially another Marjorie Taylor Greene that wants to scream and shout but doesn’t want to do the work to figure out how to come together and deliver actual results. The last thing we need in Congress, believe me, is another Marjorie Taylor Greene type character.”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5, with early voting available from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3. You can find your polling location here. For additional coverage of the race in New York’s 18th Congressional District, read the Herald’s profile of Alison Esposito.