FIRST ON FOX: Barstool Sports personality Bill Cotter, also known as "Billy Football," has turned his sights to New York's 3rd Congressional District, embarking on a grassroots campaign focused on the younger generation.
"I wanted to get involved and be a voice for this generation, if anything. You know, I may not make it to Congress, but hopefully, some of the things that I raise on my platform here will," Cotter told Fox News Digital.
As a fifth-generation New Yorker, Cotter said that District 3 is facing issues that were not a problem for him growing up in the Big Apple.
"I just kept thinking about it and seeing what was going on in Washington, in local politics and the issues that this part of New York is dealing with," Cotter said. "There are issues that were not a problem growing up, and now it is."
"When it comes to crime, the immigration crisis and the cost of living crisis, we're seeing those issues at face value in New York and that spurred me to get involved," he said.
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Cotter said that when he recently turned 25, he was finally old enough to run and decided to use his platform to make a difference in the political arena.
"What are you going to be able to do at 25, that you couldn't do at 24? One of those things was running for U.S. Congress," Cotter said.
The Barstool Sports personality said that inflation and the cost of living crisis are two issues that hit home for his generation.
"There is no one in my generation buying a house, especially in this area, for the next five years because of how expensive housing is," Cotter said. "The day-to-day life has gotten so expensive and no one has enough expendable income to save, and their wages have not grown at the same rate as the prices of everything has."
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"For our generation, we're the ones who are going to be left with the bill when it comes to the national debt," he said.
Cotter said that his work for Barstool Sports has given him a unique platform to interact with "pro-athletes to bartenders."
"The best impact that my audience has had is that I've been able to interact with so many people my age group, from pro athletes to bartenders. And they all sort of know something is wrong in this country," he said.
"I hear them voice their opinions and their problems and I feel like when you have 300,000 followers on Twitter, you're interacting with so many," he added. "That insight, has really inspired me to take this extra level because people know there's something wrong and that there is a complete lack of common sense."
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"I want to try to help bring some common sense into the equation because, from the looks of it, we don't know if our elected officials are truly acting in our best interests."
Cotter said that he decided to run as a Republican because most of his views aligned with the party.
"I chose to run as a Republican because many of my views were aligned when it came to national security, supporting law enforcement and on budget spending," he said. "I don't think all my beliefs are necessarily tied completely to the Republican Party. I think I have a position where I'm running in the Republican Party, but I will look at every issue completely and without bias."
Cotter has been working tirelessly to collect the 1,250 signatures to make it on the Republican New York ballot.
"I'm learning a lot about the electoral process and I see a lot of barriers for regular people to run for office," Cotter said. "The only people who seem to be getting into this position with perfect signatures seem to be largely establishment candidates with the widespread backing of whatever party."
"I'm hoping that I can, honestly, run a true grassroots campaign," he said. "I've collected about a thousand signatures myself, in the rain."
