Chautauqua County residents — and the rest of District 23 — must be proud. The candidates for the Congressional seat, incumbent Tom Reed and challenger John Plumb, a Randolph native, are both top notch and highly capable of serving this region well.

Both have pledged to lend as much federal assistance as possible to help stem the district’s problems with drug addiction and to work on bringing jobs to the area. Reed has worked hard since becoming Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress on such items as contracts for RHI Monofrax, which desperately needed a federal contract to remain a viable business; money for infrastructure and federal bills to help manufacturers. We are sure Plumb would work just as hard on matters of local concern.

Plumb is an excellent candidate — as many viewed at the Chautauqua Lake school debate — at the wrong time in our national history.

In the context of national politics, Reed has one important point in his favor. Should Hillary Clinton win the presidency, we are assured more Obamacare, higher taxes, a White House not to be believed on anything, a foreign policy tilted toward our enemies, a liberal Supreme Court working hand in hand with her and more national debt. Should Clinton win the presidency, it is imperative she be restrained by a strongly Republican Congress.

Reed has shown himself to be a staunch fiscal conservative with a keen eye on how federal spending effects the national debt during his time in Congress. Such a voice will be important in Congress should Clinton be our next president. For that reason, Reed is our choice.