Letitia James AP photo

Congressional hopeful Joe Sempolinski is a candidate on a campaign tour without an island. In early July, the Canisteo resident was one of the first in the current 23rd district to announce his intentions.

No stranger to Chautauqua County, Sempolinski made a name for himself in this region while serving as the head of the New York state based Congressional staff for the district. For a time, he was U.S. Rep. Tom Reed’s right-hand man.

In July 2013, he stood before more than 2,000 community members in the Williams Center at the State University of New York at Fredonia speaking on behalf of Reed in noting support for the repowering of the NRG power plant during a Public Service Commission hearing. Sempolinski, one of the first to address the commission on the Dunkirk facility that evening, spoke with a commanding tone, with clarity and a passion.

Eight years later, we all know the epitaph. Behemoth coal-burning facility NRG, which was shutdown in 2016 for cleaner forms of energy, has become unnecessary.

District 23, unfortunately, has been allowed to be in the same boat. With Reed being less public and engaged since admitting to sexual misconduct allegations from 2017 that became public in March, the whole region has been in what seems to be a fog in regard to federal issues.

For his part, Reed plans to retire in January 2023 from the seat. Where that leaves this county — and the rest of the district — is quite uncertain.

Earlier this spring, the U.S. Census made it known that New York state — due to upstate population declines — would be losing another Congressional seat. With the lack of an incumbent and Reed’s inactivity, the district that runs from Chautauqua County to Broome County west of Binghamton appears to be ripe for the largest of changes.

That has not deterred Sempolinski, however, who is enthusiastic while making the rounds. As current chairman of the Steuben County Republican party, he appears to be just as right as the current district Reed represents.

He even is not discounting this area. Within the last month, he created a YouTube campaign video from Chautauqua County.

He also fully understands the region’s less than comfy relationship with Albany and its leadership. According to all our newspaper e-mail records, Sempolinski was the first to publicly call for state Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in light of Attorney General Letitia James’ scathing report released minutes earlier noting the sexual harassment of 11 women.

“Andrew Cuomo must resign now,” Sempolinski said in an email released around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. “He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for workplace harassment and retaliation. He is a disgrace to New York state and to the office of the governor. If he does not resign, the State Assembly must begin impeachment proceedings immediately.”

Other Republicans would chime in throughout the afternoon with a similar refrain: it is time for the governor to go. Even more eye-opening, however, were the big-name Democrats who jumped on the bandwagon, including state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand as well as President Joe Biden.

Cuomo, like NRG, seems to have finally been paralyzed. His bravado has become irrelevant.

How he exits the office is still an unknown. He may go kicking because it seems he never grasps when he is in the wrong.

It has some similarities to Eliot Spitzer, who was almost unthinkably tied to a prostitution ring. He, however, owned up to his actions by stepping down immediately in 2008 as governor.

That brings us back to Reed. He’s been accountable and almost invisible. Both parties, once he made the admission, almost went out of their way to keep quiet regarding their thoughts on whether our current congressman should resign.

Even the outspoken Cuomo critic Sempolinski has bitten his tongue when it comes to the actions of his former boss, who this corner has praised plenty over the last decade.

Yes, Cuomo is on the hot seat. Even the Democrats are pressuring him.

Reed, however, has been given a pass — especially by his own party. His recent conduct appears to be a resignation even though he still holds the seat.

His time, it appears, also has come. Can Republicans be as vocal regarding one of their own?

John D’Agostino is editor of the OBSERVER, The Post-Journal, and the Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 366-3000, ext. 253.