Former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan enters race for Congress in New York

ALBANY - Dylan Ratigan, the former MSNBC host, is returning home to New York's North Country to run for Congress in a hotly contested district.

Ratigan, 45, a Democrat and Saranac Lake native, announced his plans Wednesday for the seat held by two-term Republican Elise Stefanik in the 21st Congressional District, which stretches across northern New York.

He said at a campaign announcement in his hometown that: "I have to run as Dylan Ratigan from Saranac Lake. … But I will be running for every single person in the district."

He said he would use his experience as a journalist and businessman to help the district and return resources from Washington to a rural area of the state with high unemployment and the need for more services.

"Let's face it: the political class is screwing ordinary people. They've built a corrupt system that rewards themselves. They do just enough to get re-elected and reward their donors," Ratigan wrote on his campaign website.

"And instead of finding common ground, they hide behind partisanship and stalemate. No real plan for jobs. No solution for the opioid epidemic. No honest solutions for health care."

The National Republican Campaign Committee quickly pounced on Ratigan's candidacy, saying Ratigan just registered to vote in the district last week and hadn't voted in New York City since 2007.

"It’s only fitting that Dylan Ratigan would move from New York City and the first vote he casts will be for himself," the committee said in a statement.

"He’s a liberal talking head with no voting record, and now he’s running for Congress in a desperate grasp for relevance."

Ratigan told reporters he consciously chose not to vote, saying, "I was disgusted by the choices available to me."

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Ratigan was an editor at Bloomberg News and then went on to be an anchor on CNBC and host of Fast Money. He then hosted MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show until 2012, going on to become an author and investor in hydroponic farming.

The Democratic field already includes nine hopefuls wanting to challenge Stefanik, who in 2014 at age 30 was the youngest women ever elected to the U.S. House.

"The North Country is fiercely independent," Ratigan's website continued. 

"They call it how they see it. And they want a representative who will do the same, to bring honesty to our government and progress for our people."

JSpector@Gannett.com

Joseph Spector is chief of USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.