Democratic House candidate Martha Robertson is trying to back off of previous calls for a single-payer health-care system. Robertson is challenging two-term Republican incumbent Tom Reed in New York’s competitive 23rd district.
Last week, Legal Insurrection revealed three videos from 2009 to 2011 of Robertson voicing her support for a single-payer system. In one instance, she argued that a public option is the first step, and that “we’ll get to single-payer soon — in the meantime, this is what we’ll have to do.” On other occasions, she expressed the opinion that the U.S. should “preferably” have a single-payer system.
Robertson tried to quell concerns raised over her views by saying that her focus and preference is with “fixing the Affordable Care Act,” according to the Buffalo News. “The American people want their government to solve problems and not to have the same arguments over and over again,” she said.
Reed called Robertson’s previous comments “problematic” and “something the voters should be aware of.”