Published on 11/9/2006
By Maury Thompson
THE POST-STAR

The national mood was similar when the last Democrat to represent Glens Falls in the U.S. House of Representatives was swept into office in the 1974 midterm election.

Edward "Ned" Pattison of West Sand Lake defeated seven-term Republican Carelton J. King of Saratoga Springs.

"A lot of similarities -- 38-year-old lawyer in the Watergate years," said Mark Pattison, the former congressman's son.

Just as in this election, the lack of public debate was an issue.

"He still feels that King has never debated him in public," then-Post-Star reporter Lee Coleman reported on Nov. 2, 1974.

The only face-to-face meeting in the campaign was a 15-minute "discussion" on an Albany television station.

Pattison was a deep thinker who loved to engage in conversation, said Mark Behan, who covered politics and government for The Post-Star at the time.

The congressman met periodically with area reporters for lunch at The Harvest Restaurant in Queensbury.

"He loved to banter with the press," said Behan, now chief executive officer of Behan Communications, a public relations firm. "He was very professorial."

Among other legislative proposals, Pattison co-sponsored a bill to cut the number of chauffeured limousines available for exclusive government use by government officials from about 800 down to about 25, a proposal aimed at saving the federal government about $13 million a year.

The bill also prohibited the practice of government officials being driven to and from work, according to a Sept. 26, 1995, Post-Star report.

Pattison was very principled, said the former congressman's son, who worked on the 1974 campaign.

"He said, 'The good news is, I won.' " Mark Pattison recalled. " 'The bad news is, you're not getting a job with me or anyone else who makes it look like I got you a job.' "

Pattison was re-elected in 1976 and then defeated in the 1978 midterm election by Republican Gerald Solomon of Queensbury, who went on to serve for 20 years.

House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neil, a Massachusetts Democrat, appeared at Pattison's re-election campaign announcement.

Nearly 400 people attended the $25-a-plate event at Mario's Theater Restaurant in Troy, Behan reported in The Post-Star.

The two candidates had opposite personalities and political philosophies, Behan said.

Reporters interviewed Solomon between campaign stops, riding along in the politician's van, as 8-track tapes of John Philip Sousa marches played in the background.

"The guy was so full of energy, and Pattison was so full of ideas," Behan said.

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