Two years after seizing control of the State Senate for the first time in more than four decades, New York Democrats are in grave danger of losing their narrow majority on Tuesday.
Despite a huge financial advantage and a popular candidate for governor at the top of the ticket, a half-dozen Democratic incumbents are trying to stave off defeat and help the party hang on to its 32-to-30 advantage.
The Democratic victory in 2008 opened the door for a tide of left-leaning policies; Senate Democrats voted to enshrine rights for domestic workers, legalize no-fault divorce and ease Rockefeller-era drug laws.
But they have found themselves on the defensive in recent weeks, facing Republican accusations of overspending and abandoning upstate New York, and a series of scandals involving the Senate Democratic leadership.
Republican advertisements hammer the message that one-party rule — Democrats also control the governor’s office and the State Assembly — has led to a tide of corruption and incompetence that has made the state a laughingstock.
A poll released by Siena College on Saturday suggested that Republicans may have the edge heading into the election, with Democrats in danger in four of the most competitive races, including two seats held by Democrats.
Because the new Legislature will redraw the lines of New York’s Congressional districts for the next decade, the national Republican Party has made retaking the Senate a priority, mobilizing donors in all 50 states to spend about $1.3 million to win a legislative chamber in New York.
Despite the interest, Senate Democrats have exploited their majority and amassed money from practically every special interest in Albany, and so far have outspent Republicans $31.1 million to $23.5 million, according to an analysis by the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Democrats are spending heavily on “get out the vote” efforts, along with advertising and relying on the help of their union allies to help mobilize voters.
Republicans were given fresh ammunition on Oct. 21, when the state inspector general, a Democratic appointee, released a report accusing the Senate leadership of manipulating the bidding process for the right to build a casino at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. The inspector general, Joseph Fisch, said he lost count of the number of times the Senate leader, John L. Sampson of Brooklyn, said “I don’t recall” in his testimony; Mr. Fisch referred the case to federal and local prosecutors.
(Read More: NY Times)
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5 Responses
as my late mother used to say . our so called leaders made there beds , and now they will have to sleep in them.
The Democrats will get back the Senate in 2012 in redistricting, as three or four upstate Senate districts will move downstate due to population changes alone. Equal population districts would shift another three from R to D, and eliminating the Republican gerrymander will shift an additional 3 or 4. Of course, the Republican leaders could retract their support for fair redistricting….
CharllieHall, NYC did NOT measurably increase its population, and R’s maintain their population in Upstate districts
And R’s will control Senate redistricting and gerrymander it to their benefit, as will the D’s in the Assembly.
If you’re fed up with corruption, incompetence and arrogance of the Democratic rulers in New York State, Albany in particular, make sure to go out and vote Republican tomorrow. I wish them hatzlocha rabba.
There’s no “hiddush”. For the last 40 years the Senate has been gerrymandered to elect Republicans, and the Assembly to elect Democrats. It took great ability for the Republicans to lose control in 2008, and they aren’t up to the managing to lost it again.
It would be nice if there was “frum” district in Brooklyn that could elected a Republican and make a difference, but there isn’t.