TOWN OF LEE — The daughter of longtime town Supervisor John Urtz is making her own political waves, circulating an online proposal to petition former President Bill Clinton to enter the race for New York governor.
Kelly Heffernan, of 6015 Cemetery Road, says her recently created Facebook Fan Page titled "Bill Clinton for New York State governor" has generated nearly 1,100 "fans" so far, and if the total reaches 2,000 she plans to contact Clinton’s representatives.
Clinton, a Democrat who lives near New York City and left the presidency in 2001 after eight years, has given no indications of interest in running for governor. Among his recent activities have been operating two foundations in Haiti and serving as special United Nations envoy to that country. He was spotlighted on national television Thursday night while attending the Big East college basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden.
In a media statement this week, Heffernan cited the state’s "economic and social conundrum" and said Clinton is "the best candidate to endorse, for the greater good of the constituents." She cited her "admiration and respect" for Clinton.
Heffernan, 38 and a divorced mother of two children, works as a beverage server at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, and is studying communication and information design at SUNY Institute of Technology. She said she began the Clinton Fan Page on Feb. 27 while working on a class project and it has "taken off....We’ll see how far we can take it." She is "very interesed" in politics, and has helped her father John Urtz with some of his election campaigns. Urtz, a Democrat, has been Lee supervisor since 1976.
Asked about the 34-year incumbent Urtz’s reaction to her Clinton project, Heffernan said "my dad is really impressed." She said she has asked him for advice such as how to go about political contacts "when we get to that point," but it is "my project." She has never run for public office, but her goals include doing political "public relations work" such as speechwriting or other "behind-the-scenes" support.
Urtz said of his daughter, "I give her a lot of credit" for a creative and "interesting" approach on the Clinton proposal. Regarding the idea of Clinton running for governor, he said "wouldn’t happen?....You never know."
