News Copy, New York

Battle For 35th State Senate District: Westchester's Sleeper Contest

With all the focus on Liz Feld's quixotic run against Suzi Oppenheimer, the focus hasn't been on a campaign rooted in Yonkers that deserves attention.

There are no published poll numbers on Republican challenger John Murtaugh's State Senate campaign against incumbent Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins .

 The 35th was narrowly lost by long-time incumbent State Senator Nick Spano in 2006 -- and narrowly won by 18 votes in 2004.

The New York Times had this story on the 35th State Senate District being a place where voters are worried about high property taxes.

“When are you going to lower them?” came a question from the back row, followed by sighs and affirmations of “that’s right” by others seated nearby.

That response is typical of what candidates have been hearing on the campaign trail in Westchester, where taxes are among the highest in the country.

“Taxes are a growing burden, and the desire and demand is for government to find a way to alleviate that burden because people are at the end of their ropes,” State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a first-term Democrat in the 35th District who is up for re-election, said a few days after the library event.

Her opponent, John Murtagh, a Republican who is a Yonkers City councilman, said, “I think government spending and taxes are the issues — most certainly, that’s all I hear about.”

Yet in the 37th, where Feld has probably been the most aggressive and visible proponent of a school tax cap, two Siena polls show no movement for the Republican.

Yonkers will be a different story, where middle-income homeowners rebel annually, and Greenburgh's many villages are host to some of heaviest taxed communities in Westchester -- ironically with their Town Supervisor Paul Feiner (a Democrat) leading the charge countywide to eliminate county government.  The 35th also includes Republican-heavy Mount Pleasant, so Murtaugh might be the pleasant surprise for the GOP.

 

Westchester State Senate Races Demonstrate Democrats Strength

This can't be spun.

Unless Republicans can bare polling that shows Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld within 10-15 percent (perhaps a dishonest leak), incumbent Democrat State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer appears poised to waltz away with this race.

Two-race strategy or not, Feld was doing better when she was criticizing her own political party.

Retiring or not, the 12-term alpha grandma benefits from a liberal leaning base in Westchester.

The Larchmont Gazette had thorough coverage of the last League of Women Voters debate for this State Senate contest on Thursday, October 23.

On a “woman’s right to choose,” Ms. Oppenhiemer pointed to her endorsements from pro-choice groups, including WCLA, Planned Parenthood and NARAL. She noted that New York has the nation’s highest teen pregnancy rate and that she co-sponsored the Healthy Teen’s Act that replaces prior “abstinence only” education. The new bill offers funding for districts seeking to start comprehensive “sex ed” programs so “youngsters can make responsible choices when they have the knowledge of what’s entailed,” she said.

Ms. Feld said she supports a woman’s right to choose and would do “everything I had to do to protect and defend that right.” She said she favored allowing decisions on sex ed to be made at the local level. “I support the work of Planned Parenthood and I support people who want to make these decisions for themselves at home in the privacy of their family,” she said.

News Copy was there and noted how alike these two candidates were on the social issues.

So why isn't Liz Feld resonating in socially liberal Mamaroneck, Scarsdale and Chappaqua?

Also, why would Feld avoid to answer a questionaire from Planned Parenthood -- when she supports their issues?

Republicans rarely win when they tangle with Democrats on issues the liberals own.

The Yonkers Tribune blog endorsed Feld.

"As much as some will salivate at the prospect of Democrats winning a majority at the New York State Legislature it is important to recognize that Liz Feld maintains a more open and engaging demeanor with the public and the press. Liz Feld exemplifies the moral and ethical compass many speak of dismissively maintaining a solid footing on issues most relevant to the community."

But bloggers aren't moving mountains in New York politics ... yet.

The Journal News reported that the State Senate Majority has pumped a lot of money into two of Westchester's State Senate campaigns; Feld's and John Murtaugh's challenge to incumbent State Senator Andrew Stewart-Cousins.

Murtaugh is heavily favored in Yonkers, where he is a popular albeit combative city councilman, but Greenburgh is a sure thing for Democrats.  The rest of that State Senate district includes Mount Pleasant, a true Republican stronghold, but Greenburgh's numbers tip it all in Stewart-Cousins' favor.

Nearly $600,000 thrown into two suburban State Senate campaigns -- and neither Republican may break 40 percent.  More interesting could be Murtaugh -- an openly social-conservative Republican -- faring better than the socially liberal Feld.

That data could be persuasive in elections throughout the sleepy suburbs for years to come. 

Across The Empire State: Saturday, October 25, 2008

Joe Spector of Gannett's Albany Bureau has this story in The Ithaca Journal about New York's State Senate battle.

The Republicans control the majority 31-29.

A Siena College poll last month highlighted six races, showing two downstate Republicans — Sens. Serphin Maltese and Caesar Trunzo — in tight races. Two newly elected Democrats senators — Long Island Sen. Craig Johnson and North Country Sen. Darrel Aubertine — who won their seats in special elections had significant leads.

Republican Sen. Joseph Robach, who represents most of Rochester and its major suburbs of Greece and Brighton, held an 11-point lead over Democratic challenger Richard Dollinger, who held the seat before Robach captured it in 2002.

The tightest race in Upstate, the poll showed, was the battle between Democrat Joe Mesi and Republican Michael Ranzenhofer. They are vying for an open seat that stretches across Erie and Genesee counties and being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Mary Lou Rath.

In Westchester County, Republicans have fielded visible challenges to State Senators Andrea Stewart Cousins and Suzi Oppenheimer -- and have spent at least $300,000 on Liz Feld's race against Oppenheimer to what appears to no avail in the liberal suburbs.  Cousin's challenger John Murtaugh is forecasted to do worse.

The Senate Republican Campaign Committee spent more than $1.6 million in September, according to filings.  $314,465 went to Maltese, followed by $183,454 for candidate John Murtagh.

Lot of money.  Most of the dollars just leave the GOP doggy paddling. 

One reversal of fortune for Democrats has so far come with Sen. Bill Stachowski, who seemed like a sure thing, but recent polls show him trailing Republican Dennis Delano by double digits.

The New York Daily News reported that Dems aren't going down gently into that good night.

The New York Times reported this week that Western New York and Tom Golisano are back, politically speaking.

 “Upstate New York is a very smart place to play,” said Erick C. Mullen, a Democratic consultant and veteran of races in the area. “You can get so much more purchase with your money. It is a ripe place for an upbeat campaign to go.”

It used to be that political consultants could predict the outcome of a national election from Erie County.   The NY Times pjointed out that it is the economy the has once again turned it into New York's tipping point.

Western New York’s political volatility is fueled by a mix of factors, some of them long in the making and others unexpected. Financial uncertainty is perhaps the biggest factor in the region, which is already one of the most economically troubled parts of the state and stands to be hurt disproportionately by New York’s fiscal crisis, posing difficulties for incumbents of both parties.

“The kindling is an electorate in western New York that is profoundly pessimistic,” said Bruce N. Gyory, a political consultant and former lobbyist who has advised Republicans and Democrats. “The match is an economy that, while in recession, seems to carry the political impact of a depression.”

Meanwhile, that kindling hasn't sparked a fire in New York City's northern suburbs -- where a political malaise prevails.

News Copy attended the last debate between "Mrs. Oppenheimer" and "Mayor Feld" (that's how the candidates wanted the League of Women Voters to address them).

Oppenheimer blamed the Republicans.  Feld, at times, tried to channel being a Democrat or "bi-partisan" in response to changing Albany.  Though Feld's fiscal conservative message made sense (and Oppenheimer's finger pointing didn't), the reality is that Westchester probably won't "get it" until that county government is brought to its political knees by a humbling municipal default.

The Elmira Star-Gazettte reported this week that New York State faces a $1.2-2.5 billion shortfall this year.

Next year? Sen. Oppenheimer quoted that there could be a $7 billion shortfall.

Paterson will threaten cuts to education and healthcare, to force a reaction from the special interest lobbies.

“The governor, like the Legislature, understands that education is the way we really have the best chance of reigniting the economy,” said Richard Iannuzzi, president of the New York State United Teachers. “If you decimate education, you drive the economy in the wrong direction.”

It's a political minefield that neither side will cross, at least before Election Day.

Listening to the debates of State lawmakers, it's clear that Democrats will go after the prisons and tax credits to business (along with economic development grants).  Republicans will want across-the-board five percent cuts -- but both sides are dancing with the teachers union and fearful of a revolt by PTA moms and dads.

There's a scandal too, an income tax scandal and a scandal too close to Governor Paterson with a trusted aide -- now finally resigning -- who was identified as "the whole operation" for New York's executive branch. 

The New York Post's Fred Dicker reported the additional ramifications of Charles O'Byrne's fiscal and personal damage to himself ... and others.

Other Paterson administration insiders described the governor as "agonizing" over the decision to force out O'Byrne, who was not only his top aide but also a good friend.

Making matters even harder was the lack of an heir apparent.

An official close to Paterson said he understood the need to have O'Byrne resign, but said finding a replacement could be difficult.

"The scary thing about this is that O'Byrne has been the whole operation for Paterson," the official said.

The State Legislature re-convenes for an emergency session November 18th.

After Election Day, of course.

Democrats: Discussing Black Panthers is Exploitation

Incumbent State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins doesn't want her Republican challenger to discuss William Ayers and the Weather Underground.   She doesn't want State Senate candidate John Murtaugh to discuss the Black Panthers either.

As far as the Democrats are concerned, blowing things up was "reprehensible" but now all the leftist anarchists are "rehabilitated" -- and they would appreciate if we would ignore all those sixties radicals hiding behind Obama's curtain.

Cousins went as far to say that Murtaugh is "exploiting" the fire bombing in 1970, Politics on the Hudson reported. 

Has Ayers and company ever apologized for trying to kill Murtaugh and others?

Cousins called it all "swift-boat" politics.

So it's our fault John Kerry turned his back on those fighting in Vietnam and it's our fault Bill Ayers tried to kill people to stop that same war?