Scott Phillip Lewis stands outside the Olympic Center in Lake Placid Thursday, where he announced his candidacy to represent New York's 21st Congressional District. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

LAKE PLACID — Scott Phillip Lewis announced his bid to represent New York’s 21st Congressional District on Thursday, becoming the fifth challenger seeking to unseat Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Democrats Steve Holden and Paula Collins are working to get on the ballot for their party’s primary on June 25. Jill Lochner is running against Stefanik on the Republican line, and Brian Rouleau is seeking the Working Families Party line.

Lewis initially announced he was running on the Democratic line and would face off in a primary with Holden and Collins, but after it was revealed that he is not a member of the Democratic party, he said he plans to circulate an independent petition to get on the November ballot.

Speaking in street-preacher fashion for his livestreamed announcement in front of the Olympic Center in Lake Placid on Thursday, Lewis, 34, acknowledged his campaign has an “uphill battle” — he’s joining the race later than most, Stefanik has strong financial support and he said one Democratic county chair told him they’re only focused on “flippable districts.”

But referencing the “Miracle on Ice” hockey game in which the U.S. beat the Soviet Union in a historic upset at the 1980 Winter Olympics at the Herb Brooks Arena behind him, Lewis said he does believe in miracles.

The fight for democracy is a “continuous uphill battle,” he said, but one worth fighting.

Forty-four years after the “Miracle,” Lewis said, “former KGB spy” and current Russian president Vladimir Putin is trying to recreate the Soviet Union with its “illegal invasion” of Ukraine and the home of the ice rink is represented by a woman he calls a “Russian asset and a liability to the United States of America.”

Stefanik’s campaign did not respond to a request for a response to the accusation of being a “Russian asset.”

Lewis said Stefanik is trying to be the vice president for a man who “bows to Putin.”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently said he’d “encourage” Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO country which doesn’t spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on its military.

“Here I am concerned about the threat of a dictator, the threat of nuclear war, having to send our troops to fight abroad, and Elise Stefanik has been obsessed with Hunter Biden’s penis pictures,” Lewis said.

Alexander Smirnov, the source of Hunter Biden’s laptop and alleged bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and a former FBI informant, has now been accused of lying to the FBI about Hunter and was paid $600,000 by a company owned by Trump business associates, according to recent court documents.

Lewis accused Stefanik of “enabling” Russia to influence U.S. elections. He believes supporting Ukraine with money, but not soldiers, is best.

Lewis moved to Saranac Lake in 2021, partially because of the coronavirus pandemic. He had attended the National Sports Academy, where he played center in hockey years earlier.

Lewis said he’s going to start knocking on doors and he’s asking for volunteers to join him.

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Economy

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Lewis said Stefanik’s use of the term “Bidenomics” to describe the poor state of the economy is distracting. He pointed out that Trump added $8 trillion to national debt during his presidency. With a current debt of $34 trillion, that is around a quarter of America’s debt.

“He was not lying to us when he told us he would run the country like his businesses,” Lewis said of Trump. “Which is, straight to the ground.”

Meanwhile, he said Trump made tax cuts for the rich. Now, Lewis said, the idea that the economy was better with Trump is “corporate spin.”

He said he cannot wrap his head around that how the debt got so high in four years, adding that Trump is not a fiscal conservative in his view.

Lewis believes in free markets and said competition is the best way to bring prices down. When only one company offers a product or service, they are not held accountable, he said.

He said the federal government needs to tax corporations.

“The rich are getting richer,” he said, adding that Wall Street needs an “overhaul.”

Lewis said he has a finance degree from Western New England University and worked as a stock trader for Northwestern Mutual and Charles Schwab for several years, so he understands how Wall Street works.

He said the fight in America is not Republican or Democrat, left or right, but that it is “rich versus poor.”

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Border

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Lewis said NY-21 is a border district, the northern border, which does not get as much attention as the southern border.

He said it needs more attention, and the immigration system does as a whole. He said the recent bipartisan immigration reform bill was the most conservative he said he’s seen in his lifetime, but House Republicans shut it down.

“They’d rather point at the problem to blame Joe Biden to win elections than actually create solutions,” he said.

Lewis said he’s “all for immigration.”

“We are all immigrants here, except for the Native Americans,” he said.

But he added that America needs policies for legal immigration, particularly by speeding up the hearings process. The process is too slow right now, he said, and that is what creates the illegal immigration problem.

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Health care

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Lewis said health care access is at the top of his list, particularly for veterans.

“Our veterans need access to the world’s best health care, period. Anything less is unacceptable,” Lewis said.

This is challenging for a rural area. Again, he said, the fix is to increase competition. Right now, he said the health care system reminds him of communism, since in many places, there is only one option.

More competition means higher standards, he said.

Lewis said he would defend abortion, saying that some legislators want to bring America back in time.

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The elephant in the room

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A couple of minutes into his speech, Lewis said he had to address “the elephant in the room.” Googling his name brings up his mugshot from a 2019 DWI arrest in Austin, Texas. Lewis said a hit-and-run accident years earlier left him with injuries, PTSD and he started suffering from alcohol abuse disorder. Now, he said, his last drink was in June 2021.

His 2019 arrest was broadcast on the “Live PD” television show.

Lewis drew a comparison to a case two months later, when sheriff’s deputies in Austin killed Javier Ambler, a Black man, who they chased after attempting to arrest him for not dimming his headlights by shooting him with tasers four times. This killing was also filmed by “Live PD.”

A Texas law in Ambler’s name forbids law enforcement from contracting with reality TV shows. Lewis said this is a “no-brainer” to become a federal law.

“Police were engaged with law entertainment and not law enforcement,” he said.

Lewis said there are two differences between him and Ambler — Lewis is alive and Ambler is dead; Lewis is white, Ambler is Black. He said race likely played a role in their different outcomes and ending racism is a top priority for him.

Through becoming sober, Lewis said he learned to accept responsibility for choices.

Even after what he had been through, he said he stands behind police “100%.” They have a hard job, he said, and need to be equipped.

“I say, fund law enforcement,” Lewis said. “With that said … we need to understand there are good cops and there are bad cops.”

Laws need to be enforced on police, too, he said.

Lewis describes himself as a “quasi-lawyer,” representing himself pro se ins several lawsuits against governments and hospitals. He said he’s knowledgeable about reading law.

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Other candidates

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Holden said he welcomes Lewis to the race.

“I am eager to engage in meaningful discussions with all the candidates that will benefit the district and its residents,” Holden said in a statement.

Rouleau said he’s glad for “anyone local throwing their hat in the ring and doing what they can to help defeat the absentee ‘representative’ of NY-21, Elise Stefanik.” But, referring to an article describing how Lewis wore a kangaroo costume to court in Lake Placid last year, Rouleau said “maybe there are better options.”

“I am happy to debate any and all candidates for representative, especially Elise, if she can ever find her way back to the district,” Rouleau said in a statement.

Lochner said she was concerned that Lewis has multiple active lawsuits against municipalities and entities that he would represent in Congress.

“I welcome Mr. Lewis to the race and wish him the best of luck with his campaign,” she said in a statement.

Collins said Lewis is “a colorful character,” and that he “is certain to bring a welcomed perspective to our discussions.”

Stefanik Senior Advisor Alex DeGrasse called the race “crowded” and “sad” with Lewis’ announcement. He said Stefanik is focused on delivering real results for NY-21, and pointed to recent federal funding in an appropriations package.

“Elise is grateful and humbled by the continued support from her constituents who have re-elected her by historic margins,” DeGrasse said in a statement.

Election Day is Nov. 5.

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A previous version of this article said Lewis was a Democrat facing off in the Democratic primary. He is not a member of that party, so he has said he is opting to circulate an independent petition. A previous version of this article also stated Rouleau was running on the Working Families Party Line. He is seeking the line. A previous version also said Lewis has sued sheriffs. He has sued governments, not sheriffs departments. The Enterprise regrets the errors.