Slaughter's foes 

It looks like House Representative Louise Slaughter, who represents the 25th Congressional District, could face at least two opponents in her bid for re-election this year. Gates Supervisor Mark Assini, a Republican, and Marine Corps veteran Tim Dean, who plans to run as an independent, both say they plan to take on the well-known and powerful Dem.

Assini says he believes in reaching across party lines. He worked with Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, co-chair of the state Democratic Party, to make sure a pension proposal floated last year by Governor Andrew Cuomo didn't get off the ground, he says.

"Washington is broken, there's no doubt about it," Assini says. "There's no collaboration, no compromise."

And he says that unlike most other Republicans, he's willing to entertain changes to the Affordable Care Act instead of demanding outright repeal. Congress should look to the Canadian and British health-care systems to see what's worked there, he says.

Dean says he can connect with voters who are sick of their representatives voting along party lines. He says he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to restore the cost-of-living adjustment for retired military veterans. Dean says he won't vote for any proposed laws that restrict guns.

"I will govern by the Constitution without condition," he says.