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Overcast Kellen Curry explains why he’s running against Representative George Santos
Kellen Curry spent eight years serving the United States in the Air Force, and after a stint in the private sector, he is looking to return to public service as one of the challengers for U.S. Rep. George Santos’ seat in the 3rd Congressional District.
The 37-year-old veteran claims that after Santos’ tumultuous first term, residents will simply want to get back to normalcy, and he believes he can deliver that.
“It’s interesting — I go around the district, and folks don’t even want to talk about George Santos,” Curry said. “What they want to talk about is what comes next.”
Curry grew up in Midwest City, Oklahoma, where, he said, he was exposed to the concept of service early by his parents. His father, John, was a naval officer stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, while his mother, Celeste, worked as a federal civil servant for many years.
Growing up in a home that prized service to the country and to his community, Curry said, helped shape his decision as a young man to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he studied pre-law, played football and competed in track and field. Curry emphasized that the idea of giving back to his country had always appealed to him as a young man, and continues to influence him in his decision to run for public office.
“It just felt right, and it was a good decision,” he said. “In hindsight, I’m glad that I went (to the Air Force Academy). It was very foundational for me, and I really enjoyed my time there.”
After finishing his pre-law program at Air Force, Curry served two tours in the military, working as a procurement officer specializing in cybersecurity technology. Procurement officers analyze, compare and approve products and services that the military is hoping to purchase, and Curry said that during his time he held top clearance and negotiated the purchase of several cybersecurity weapons and defense systems.
Following his military service, Curry earned a master’s in business administration from George Washington University, and added that he is still a member of the Air Force Reserves. Following his graduation, he moved to Long Island City in 2019, where he worked at JP Morgan, making his way up from an intern to a vice president in equities research analysis.
Curry said that he was moved to run for office following two key events of the last several years; watching the Biden administration’s “disastrous” withdrawal from Afghanistan and the revelations that Santos had fabricated his entire personal history to win the election.
Curry said that he sees one of the primary goals of a congressman is to protect and serve the country and its service members who risk their lives on its behalf, and that he believes he can fulfill that obligation.
“It dawned on me that we can do better and we deserve better,” Curry said. “All of those things kind of transpired and led me to research the possibilities of running, and then ultimately to just decide to go back to public service.”
Curry said that he’s been speaking with Republican Party members at the local and national level to support his campaign. While Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy recently said that the party was not supporting Santos’ reelection campaign, Curry did not confirm whether he had received the endorsement of McCarthy or any other high-level party leaders.
He mentioned that his top concern is national security, stressing that he believes it is “the first job of the Congress, to make sure that the American people in our homeland are kept safe.” He said he would be able to address foreign threats with his eight years of experience in the Air Force.
“It’s a moment in our history where we have global threats not only emanating from the Middle East, but from the Indo-Pacific and China,” Curry said. “We definitely need members of Congress who have a working experience in national security and that’s definitely something that I bring to the table.”
He added that addressing the economic issues facing the country was another top priority, highlighting the impact that inflation has had on communities in Long Island. He cited his experience working in the private business sector as an asset in this, and that it is important to have representatives who “understand how the economy works.”
At the local level, Curry mentioned that his two top priorities were providing additional funding and support to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, located in Kings Point, and constituency services. Reiterating his support for national security, Curry said that ensuring the Merchant Marine, an oft-overlooked branch of the United States military, was essential to ensuring American security abroad, particularly with regards to the South China Sea.
As for constituency services, Curry highlighted Santos’ apparent apathy in helping residents of the Third District deal with pressing issues such as veterans benefits, passport issues, and other problems which residents of the district have continued to complain about since the fabulist congressman took office.
“I mean, (constituency services are) just not being done here,” Curry said. “Mr. Santos unfortunately has not prioritized that.”
