WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – A congressman who came close to running to represent part of the North Country now says he won’t run for election in his newly formed district, citing backlash to his new stance on gun control.
27th District Representative Chris Jacobs was running for the newly formed 24th Congressional District, which includes Watertown and part of Jefferson County. That was before new political maps were forced to be redrawn by a judge.
Jacobs shifted to a run for the 23rd district, but after openly changing his stance on gun control policies due to recent conversations with people affected by mass shootings, he says there’s been backlash from other Republicans and petitions are being circulated to primary him.
Because of that, he said in a press conference he is no longer running for Congress.
He said he thinks he could win, but it would become a divisive election for his party and the district.
Jacobs had said he was in favor of banning assault weapons and now supports some of the laws New York’s State Legislature just passed on the federal level.
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