New Republic owner Chris Hughes and his husband Sean Eldridge are relocating once again so Eldridge can have a shot at political office, the New York Times reports.
The couple bought a $5 million house in Garrison, N.Y., two years ago because it would allow Eldridge to run for the local congressional seat. That seat turned out to be unattainable.
The couple bought a $2 million house in January located in New York’s 19th congressional district. They denied the purchase was for political reasons.
The Times reports:
Word of Mr. Eldridge’s political plans has delighted the friends who make up his social circle: Donors to his exploratory committee include George Soros, the billionaire financier, and Sean Parker, the tech entrepreneur behind Napster and Spotify.
But his ambitions have puzzled some residents among the farmers, mill workers and small-business owners who populate this district, which rises through the Catskills and rolls north through cornfields and apple orchards to the Vermont border. […]
He raised an impressive $300,000 in the first three months of this year, but only a small fraction of the donations came from individuals in the district. And Mr. Eldridge’s voter registration, which he applied for in January, was placed on the inactive list after a confirmation postcard sent to his new home was returned to the local board of elections marked: "Return to sender. No mail receptacle." His registration has since been reactivated.
Eldridge set up a gathering to get to know some local leaders but did not make it clear that he was considering elected office.
"He seemed pretty friendly," on resident told the Times. "Then I found out he was running against Congressman Gibson and I thought that this was all a little bit of a staged situation."