Former Argyle resident weighing congressional run
June 9, 2011 | The Post-Star
By Maury Thompson
Former Washington County resident Kelly Eustis said he is moving from California back to New York late this month and is leaning toward seeking the Republican and Conservative nominations to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, in 2012.
“We’re pretty much well prepared at this point to actually put our selves out there and make an announcement,” said Eustis, who contacted The Post-Star on Thursday to discuss his plans.
Eustis, a 23-year-old political consultant who grew up in Argyle, said he thinks the youth factor would be a draw to voters.
“I turn 25 (the minimum age to serve in the House) about a month and a week before the November 2012 election,” he said.
Eustis said he plans to move with his fiancee and their 4-month-old son to Elizabethtown, in Essex County.
Eustis is the second potential candidate to publicly express interest in challenging Owens in 2012, even though new congressional district boundaries for 2012 are not yet known.
Republican Matt Doheny of Watertown announced through a spokesman last week that he is planning to make another run for Congress in 2012.
Doheny, president of an investment firm, was the Republican and Independence candidate who lost last year to Owens.
Eustis, an Argyle native, has not held public office. He ran unsuccessfully for Argyle town council on the Conservative line in 2007, before he moved to California.
He has been executive director of One Nation, a tea party political action committee, since October 2009. He said he is relocating his PAC to New York as well, but will resign as executive director if he runs for Congress.
