DEWITT  — Sarah Klee Hood, a Democratic candidate in the NY-22 election in 2022, has announced her candidacy for New York’s 22nd Congressional District seat in 2024. 

Klee Hood made the announcement through a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, April 13. Klee Hood is a native Central New Yorker, current DeWitt town councilor, a working mother and a veteran, having served as an airfield operations officer for the Air Force.   

She ran for NY-22 in 2022, but was defeated in the August primary by Francis Conole with a little over 1,000 votes. Conole won in Onondaga and Oswego counties and Klee Hood won in Oneida and Madison counties.  

Conole ultimately lost the election to Rep. Brandon Williams (R-Sennett), who took office in January. Klee Hood has been critical of Williams during his time in office so far. 

“It’s getting harder and harder to just make it work — raise kids, own a house, retire with dignity — and let’s face it, our government isn’t doing enough,” Klee Hood said in the video. 

“If we want to take back the House, we need a candidate who knows how to take back a house,” she added.  

During her candidacy, Klee Hood identified her key issues as LGBTQ and reproductive rights, fighting climate change, single-payer universal healthcare, paid family leave, wage-driven affordable healthcare and increased accessibility to college and trade education. 

Klee Hood has been critical of cryptocurrency and corporate funding for political campaigns, like Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency fraudster who donated over $500,000 to support Conole’s primary campaign.   

“They say I’ll need big-dollar donors this time. I say I need more of the grassroots supporters … who got us so close last time,” Klee Hood said in the video. 

Klee Hood is the second person to announce their campaign for NY-22, with Manlius town councilor Katelyn Kriesel announcing her run for the seat in February. However, after about a month, Kriesel dropped out of the race. 

The NY-22 seat is up for reelection in November 2024.