I only care about the 21st congressional district of New York because it is constitutes 1/435th of the representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. I’d like a Democrat to serve in the seat, but I could say that same thing about the 3rd district in Utah or the 6th district in Georgia. With Democrat Bill Owens unexpectedly announcing his retirement, the local party had to scramble to find a replacement. None of their preferred candidates agreed to run, and they wound up settling on a guy named Aaron Wolfe, who just so happens to have grown up in my hometown of Princeton, New Jersey. A lot of people don’t know that Princeton has spawned bands like Phish, Blues Traveler, and the Spin Doctors. My strongest connection is to Blues Traveler, which once performed in my living room for several days in a row, and in my girlfriend’s backyard (before the police broke the show up). Mr. Wolfe’s connection is to Phish, and in particular to Trey Anastasio. Back in 2000, Mr. Wolfe did an interview about his time at Princeton Day School with Anastasio.
Jay Kahn and Ellis Godard: When did you first meet Trey?
Aaron Wolfe: We both liked the same girl. She told us she couldn’t decide which one to be with, but that we should know that there was another, distant competitor who she said she would just call “Mr. X.” Finally one day she gathered Trey and me and told us to sit down. We waited. Then she made a solemn announcement. She was already going out with Mr. X. [So] Trey and I became friends and listened to Moby Grape records at his Dad’s house.
Trey’s father was a an executive vice president at the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the organization that handled your SATs. The ETS campus (at night) is a great place to explore your mental boundaries, if you know what I mean.
In any case, Mr. Wolfe “owns a food store in Brooklyn, N.Y., called Urban Rustic that sells exclusively local foods” and is a documentary filmmaker.
I have no idea if he can hold this seat for the Democrats, but his personal biography overlaps enough with my own that I will be rooting for his success with some interest.
