Frank Spotorno
To My Fellow Republicans and Colleagues,
Before serious illness forced me to step down from the New York State Republican Party State Committee in 2019, I spent years sitting in rooms with many of you, arguing for the heart and future of our party.
As a lifelong Republican, a former union carpenter, a small business owner, and a champion for bringing American manufacturing jobs back home, I have always believed our party should be the ultimate home for working-class families. But during my time on the Committee, there was one truth I struggled to get many of my colleagues to comprehend: quality healthcare must be treated as a fundamental right for every American.
For too long, our party has ceded the healthcare debate to the left. But make no mistake: socialism is gaining momentum in America precisely because the current healthcare system is failing working people.
When blue-collar workers—the private-sector union members who build our infrastructure, power our economy, and earn their living through hard labor—face bankruptcy over medical bills, they feel abandoned. Private-sector unions have long proven that offering living wages, healthcare benefits, and a dignified retirement is essential for strong communities. Yet, our current medical landscape relies on bloated, bureaucratic monopolies that prioritize guaranteed multi-billion-dollar corporate profits over the livelihoods of everyday citizens.
If Republicans do not offer a real, market-minded solution to this crisis, the next generation of voters will default to government-mandated socialism out of pure desperation.
We do not need a full government takeover of medicine, nor can we continue defending a status quo that drives our national debt toward $40 trillion while charging working families five-figure bills for an overnight hospital stay. The solution is pro-worker, pro-choice, and fiscally sound: a guaranteed public baseline that lowers costs through price negotiations, paired with the total freedom to purchase private supplemental coverage—just like successful models across Europe, Asia, and Australia.
I remain a proud Republican, but our party’s future depends on the candidates we nominate next. We must show the American people that free enterprise works best when it serves human beings, not corporate monopolies. It is time for us to step up, protect the working class, and fix this broken trap once and for all.
In solidarity and conservative purpose,
Frank J. Spotorno
• Former Member, NYS Republican State Committee
• Co-Founder, “Bring Our Jobs Home
