A Syracuse University professor officially launched his campaign for Congress on Wednesday in front of about 30 people in Thornden Park.

Flanked by his wife, daughter and supporters, Eric Kingson, a professor of social work at SU, announced he would seek the democratic nomination to represent New York’s 24th congressional district. He is the first Democrat to announce he is running for the seat.

Kingson, 69, said he will continue to teach in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics during his campaign.

The Manlius native emphasized a major pillar of his platform on Wednesday: protecting and expanding social security.

“I’m tired of hearing people say that we have to cut social security,” Kingson said. “Today’s working Americans will not be able to maintain their standard of living without increasing social security benefits.”

The crowd, which skewed older, applauded at each mention of expanding social security.

Kingson co-founded the advocacy group Social Security Works, which has the goal of maintaining and expanding social security benefits. His academic career has also been focused on social security and economic inequality.

Kingson has spoken to the Alliance of Retired Americans in Syracuse on multiple occasions, said Margo Buckingham, a Kingson supporter and member of the Alliance for Retired Americans. Many members of the crowd were members of the organization.

“He knows so much about the social security issue,” Buckingham said. “If they start sending social security money into private investments then you don’t have the funding stream to maintain the social security system.”

As a Democrat, Kingson framed his social security platform in opposition to the Republican Party, specifically Republicans in Washington. He said that as a professor, he’s not a career politician and represents a voice outside normal Washington politics.

“I think people are a little tired of politics as usual,” Kingson said in an interview following the campaign launch.

Although Kingson’s campaign is mainly focused on social security, Liz Gerace, a former student of Kingson’s and a campaign staffer, said she isn’t worried about appealing to younger voters.

Kingson also talked about income inequality, echoing the rhetoric of other progressive candidates, such as presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He said for the past several decades, most of the country’s income growth has gone to the richest people in the country, something he opposes.

Addressing a recent study, which concluded that Syracuse has the highest rates of poverty for blacks and Hispanics among the top 100 metropolitan areas in the country, Kingson railed against policies that led to the problem.

“If we don’t see the pain of hardworking families of all incomes, all races, all ethnicities, all preferences for marriage, all gender preferences, then we lose as a society,” Kingson said.

John Katko, a Republican, is the 24th district’s current representative. He unseated democratic incumbent Dan Maffei in an election last year where he earned 60 percent of the vote.

“I’m going to raise the issues correctly and without rancor,” Kingson said in an interview. “I think he (Katko) is a decent man, but I’m going to raise the issues very hard and I’m going to fight.”

Published on September 16, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu