The Issues That Will Shape The Race For Governor In New York

Governor Cuomo has recently agreed to debate his competitor Rob Astorino before November's election. Watching a debate can be very helpful with understanding where the candidates stand on key issues. It is also important to do some prior research to where the candidates fall on key issues.

For example, the two candidates for governor have different stances when it comes to tax reform. Cuomo favors a tax cut for the middle class and higher taxes for the wealthiest 1% in the state. Conversely, Astorino kept spending down but made no drastic tax cuts in his latest term as Westchester County Executive. Astorino opposes higher taxes on the wealthy.

When it comes to Civil Rights issues, the candidates have very different opinions. The governor is supportive of both gay marriage and abortion. Astorino opposes abortion and gay marriage.

Where these two candidates differ the most is on their beliefs about affordable housing. Astorino strongly opposes affordable housing and Cuomo has based his campaign on that opposition.  The Cuomo campaign has recently aired two ads in New York City over the federal government's contention that Westchester County is not abiding by a settlement calling for it to build more affordable housing. The ads essentially accused Astorino of ignoring New York's tradition of fighting discrimination and racism and make him look like an extremist.   

These issues and especially the issue of affordable housing will be important and very interesting to see debated when the two square off in a debate in the upcoming months before Novembers election.

The Issues They Feel are Important

In the first and twenty-first district, where the races are close, the race is going to boil down to the issues that the candidates are supporting. Now as a voter, we should be able to go to their website and see the issues they support. This is the accumulation of those two races and their candidates. 

On the incumbent's website in the first district, Tim Bishop, his issues start with the "Environment, Fighting for Seniors, Fighting for Working Families, Job and the Economy, Supporting our Veterans, Working for Long Island." 

Now his competitor, Lee Zeldin, has a little bit more to say on his issues page. "Fighting for Our Families, Shrinking Government, Working to Grow the Good Jobs We Need, Sharing Every Parent's Hope: A Better Future for Our Children, Preparing Our Children for that Future, Preserving the Opportunity: Giving Our Kids a Chance, Keeping Our Promises to Seniors, Repealing and Replacing Obamacare, Fighting for What's Right: Protecting Our Constitution, Fighting for You: Protecting our Citizens, A Veteran Standing Up for Veterans, A Flawed Immigration System, Preserving Our Environment, An Untapped Opportunity: Energy." 

Now for the 21st district there are different issues they are going for. For Elise Stefanik it begins with the "Economy" then moves to "Regulatory & Tax Reform, Healthcare, Fiscal Responsibility, Agriculture, Veterans & Military Families, Constitution, Immigration, Energy, Environment, Education." 

Her Democratic counterpart, Aaron Woolf, almost has the same issues as his competitor. "Economy and Jobs, Education, Seniors, Foreign Policy and Ft. Drum, Healthcare, Environment and Sportman's Rights, Agriculture, Equal Opportunity, Government Reform, Veterans." 

Remember the links will bring you to their page where you can find out more information and why the candidate is right for you! 

Recently, Woolf released his tax rate. It may be more shocking than you think! "Woolf supports the Buffett Rule, named for billionaire Warren Buffett, which would impose a 30 percent federal tax rate on anyone who makes more than $1 million a year." Well Woolf's "effective tax rate was 29.53 percent in the tax returns he filed with his wife last year." Surprisingly backing up what he is supporting. 

NY-18th's Affordable Care Problem

NY-18^th‘s Democrat incumbent, Sean Patrick Maloney, is expected to win his district once again. But his Republican opponent, former Congresswoman Nan Hayworth, has given him a run for his money this cycle.

Maloney (D) - seanmaloney.house.gov

Hayworth has managed to spend almost half as much as Maloney, all while raising substantially less than the incumbent. More impressively, Hayworth has pitched in a pretty penny for her campaign. Both campaigns have seen lackluster support in terms of Small Contributions while larger donations make up a much greater proportion of their finances.

Looking at both the recent Siena poll and the industry contribution breakdown, we can observe where the money is coming from and how much the voters care about the issues this money is being spent on.

The Affordable Care Act data is a good example. 71% of Republican respondents would support repealing the healthcare reform act as opposed to just 31% of Democrats. This lines up with who they would vote for, 76% for Hayworth and 29% for Maloney, and political ideology, where 76% responded as conservative and 45% liberal who wanted to repeal the act.

Nan Hayworth (R) - nanhayworth.com

The finances behind the candidates tell part of the story too. Hayworth, an ACA opponent, has gotten $267,000 from the Health sector (think HMOs and professionals) while Maloney, an ACA supporter, has received less than half that amount. Healthcare is an important issue in the campaign but the data does not support either of their camps.

Gubernatorial Possitions

          With elections coming around the corner its important to keep a good eye on candidates views on issues. Recent Gubernatorial debates can yield much information.

          Zepher Teachout views on some issues include: Abortion rights should go with woman’s equality. Anti trust laws should be imposed on corporate political power. Was endorsed at Gay Pride parade. Green energy, stop hydrofracking. “Honor dignity of all immigrants.” School system need to take a one hundred and eighty degree turn. Advocates heavy investigation on political corruption. Believes heavily in gun control.

          Andrew Cuomo has positions such as: Full 9^th month abortions. More foreign trade to kick start economies. Should intervene in Syria under “Congregational process.” Believes campaigns should be financed different. Cut taxes for poor and raise for wealthy.

(Google)

          Rob Astorino views on topics: “Opposes affordable housing & hence minorities.” Kept Westchester county taxes steady. Against NYS SAFE act. Says no to medical marijuana.

(Google)

          Kathy Hochul stands on issues: State schools should work with employers for hiring. Demands cleanup of Attica by EPA. Supports NRA. Immigrants without documentation shouldn’t be allows state utilities.

          Voters should be intense about knowing how the candidates feel about topics. Without people like that we would just be picking a name out of a hat.

Incumbency Drying Up Just Before the Election?

The NY-11^th district duel between incumbent Michael Grimm (R) and Democratic challenger Domenic Recchia has become aclosely watched race, as recently reported by our own Blotter reporter Ryan Eboh.

 

The money behind the race is as tightly wound as the polls. Although the filings given by both campaigns are three months old, the data shows minute differences in fundraising capabilities. Both have raised $1.8 million and have roughly $1 million readily available, the only major difference being Grimm spending twice as much as his opponent ($900,000 to $540,000). Recchia’s individual contribution lead has washed away Grimm’s incumbency fundraising advantage.

 

This race has seen basically the entire outside spending target the Republican incumbent. Just $10 was given to support Recchia while the other million dollars was ammunition against Grimm. The $100,000 that was just spent by the Democrats in a new advertisement campaign calls attention to his alleged criminal wrongdoing.

 

The only difference between Democratic Party fundraising involvement of the NY-21^st and 11^th is… one dollar. The $3,891 check (Woolf received $3,892) written to the Recchia campaign once again beats the Republican leadership donations given to the state. Just like the Stefanik campaign, nothing has been given to Grimm.

Cuomo Dominating The Polls, But Is He Really What New Yorkers Want?

According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC 4 New York/Marist College poll, the governor is holding a 25% lead over his opponent Rob Astorino amongst likely voters. But is he really the person that New Yorkers want to run the state? Evidence suggests that they do not. For instance, he faced a relatively strong primary challenge from progressive candidate Zeyphr Teachout.

 

 

 

The poll also concluded that 56% of New Yorkers feel that the governor is doing a fair/poor job in office compared to 42% who would rate his performance as excellent/good. His job approval rating has also gone down to 42% from 47% in August, and 57% of New Yorkers believe that New York is in a recession. So these numbers indicate that New Yorkers are looking for a change in the Capitol, but the numbers also indicate that they don’t feel that his opponent Rob Astorino is the guy for that change and this is why Cuomo still holds a sizeable lead in the polls. The reason for that is because nearly a third of statewide voters still don’t know enough about Astorino to form an opinion about him, and 37% of those who do know enough about him have a negative impression of him.

 

The governor’s sizeable lead in the polls, and the state’s lack of knowledge about Mr. Astorino is easily due in large part to fundraising. Governor Cuomo is dominating his opponent in fundraising, and in July it was reported that he had 25 million remaining for his campaign compared to Astorino’s wimpish 2.4 million. In conclusion, New Yorkers are looking for change in the Capitol, but at the moment there isn’t a good enough candidate with enough funds to compete with the governor.

 

 

Majority Doesn't Always Rule

Democrats elected a new leader to the senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins from Yonkers. Who opposite of her predecessors has a clean record, and is the first female legislative leader in either house. This has not been the case as of the last time the Democrats had the majority, and even recently. Now the party is trying to turn a new leaf, just as majority is around the corner. Greg Smith of the Daily News reported recently David Denenberg; a candidate for a senate seat on Long Island, is being sued for defrauding clients at his former law firm. This defrauding has summed up to around $2 million. Thus, forcing him to withdraw from the race. Sadly, this was not his first run in with Johnny Law.

(Google)

Marc Panepinto Democratic candidate for New York State senate has a poor rapor as well. Back in 2001 Panepinto got caught trying to use fake signatures. John Sampson from Brooklyn, was a winner of the Democratic primary while under indictment by the federal government. For embezzling $400,000 profit of foreclosed houses.

Having the majority in the New York State Senate definitely can have its benefits. Being under the spot light as we can see is defiantly not one of those benefits.

MONEY TALKS

             In today’s political races, it's often the candidate with the most money in their "war chest" that wins the race. If this hypothesis holds, the race for the NY governor’s mansion might just be over - before it even began...

            The incumbent Governor Cuomo has a war chest valued at 35 Million dollars. This is an astounding amount of money to what his competitor has at hand. Cuomo raised a lot of his funds from out of state contributors. One might think “why would someone from a different state worry about a gubernatorial race in New York?” MONEY TALKS! Cuomo has friends in high places with deep pockets such as; “DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.’s Jeffrey Katzenberg, who also donated $50,000;  Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey gave Mr. Cuomo $35,000, while Sony Inc.'s Sony Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Lynton donated $15,000.” And the list goes on. The Cuomo camp spent 6.8 million dollars on their campaign

            Rob Astorino’s war chest on the other hand pales in comparison to Cuomo's. The Astorino campaign has 2.4 million dollars on hand. The campaign spent a disappointing sum of $980,000 compared to Cuomo’s $6.8 million. Astorino drew funds from people who gave the governor a significantly larger sum of money. The Astorino camp is proud of the fact that a relatively large sum of their funds came from every day new Yorkers instead of executives of large companies. This underdog appeal is cute but will not fix the 30 point gap in the polls. So yes, MONEY DOES TALK and by talks, it can sway elections.

Governor Cuomo is Not Always Endorsing Blue

After Senator Mark Grisanti upset loss to Republican challenger Kevin T. Stocker in the GOP primary on September 9^th. Governor Cuomo is still considering endorsing the Republican Senator Mark Grisanti. Gristanti is a Buffalo Republican in the 60^th District State Senate who remains on the ballot as he running for the Independent Party.

For the governor, this one's a personal, not just political, decision. As Grisanti was one of the only four republicans who voted yes for Cuomo’s push to legalize gay marriage and also voted in favor for Cuomo’s gun control bill.  It is believed that his support for Cuomo’s bills is the reason

why he lost in the primary on September 9^th. This race seems like an important one to watch over for the next six weeks as Election Day rears around the corner. Governor Andrew Cuomo has been on record saying that he wants the Democrats to take control of State Senate. However, Cuomo gave “mixed messages” about whom he is going to endorse in the 60^th Senate District Race. Right now it is a three-way race between Mark Grisanti, Kevin Shocker, and Democrat Marc Panepinto.

Here is a video of Governor Cuomo explaining his problem in the 60^th district

http://buffalo.twcnews.com/content/news/770729/cuomo-avoids-making-endorsements-in-60th-senate-district-race/

Candidates Exchange Words

Candidates from the 21st District exchange words on free trade agreements. Stefanik recently said “I support free trade agreements, I think it’s important that we be able to sell our goods to a global marketplace.” Her counterpart, Woolf is more concerned about the district's own products before he looks to make America more open to trade. His exact remarks were “With respect to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we have to be very careful about potential for dumping, low-cost producers such as New Zealand could potentially dump dairy products on our district, which would hurt one of our most important agricultural sectors.” 

Remember the other day when Funiciello came out as a "9/11 questioner." Well the Woolf campaign has responded to those remarks by saying “With respect to 9/11, I think it’s incredibly offensive that anybody would allege that our government had a hand in detonating those buildings. Just on a purely personal level, I find that extremely troubling and offensive. On a political level, I’m not sure why it would ever be wise to espouse that. If you did, I think it’s an incredibly outrageous allegation.” Funiciello answered not soon after with “Like any other issue that gets brought up, I didn’t bring up 9/11, I’m smart enough to know it’s really not one of the issues I really would have wanted to be the primary one I was called upon to discuss, but given that we’re on the eve of attacking sovereign nations again, in an occupation that is illegal and unconstitutional, I would say it’s kind of opportune as well. And the fact that Aaron Woolf would have a sitting congressman come in and call my position irresponsible, that’s a despicable thing and it proves how un-American that camp is.”

Candidates from the First Congressional District had a debate last night, Monday, September 22nd at 7pm. Tim Bishop's twitter page was quiet compared to Lee Zeldin's. Bishop started off the night with a "Excited 4 2night" and went on to say how Zeldin wants to look out for the wealthiest 1%. Zeldin on the other hand tweeted away with the hashtag "#TermLimitTim". Zeldin throughout the debate tweeted what was on his mind from Obamacare to national security. Another interesting anecdote is that Zeldin is coming up on 3,000 followers and Bishop has just over 1,000.

It’s Looking Grim for Michael Grimm

Recent polling data has shown that democratic congressional candidate Domenic Reechia has been able to catch up to GOP candidate Michael Grimm. This is very bad timing for Michael Grimm as the election is about six weeks away. Domenic Reechia has been able to erase a 6-point deficit by going on the offensive talking about Grimm’s pending criminal charges. A recent survey of about 400 voters in New York’s 11^th district shows that Grimm and Reechia are tied with 46% of the vote. Another 8% are undecided. Apparently, Initial research showed that voters in the 11^th district were not fully aware of Grimm’s pending criminal charges. As people have learned more about Grimm’s situation people have started to be in support of the democratic candidate Domenic Reechia.

A trial date has bet set up in December for Michael Grimm The Republican congressional candidate was indicted in April for mail, wire, and tax fraud. The apparent fraud occurred from 2007 to 2010 when Grimm was the owner and manager of a Manhattan restaurant called Healthalicious. Grimm has pleaded not guilty and at a press conference recently Grimm says “he is a target of a political witch hunt that is trying to drive him out of office.”

Also take a look at this new advertisement that the National Democrats made “attacking” congressional candidate Michael Grimm.  http://www.ny1.com/content/news/215869/ny1-exclusive--national-dems-release-new-ad-attacking-michael-grimm/

                                             Four horse race for the governor’s mansion 

            In New York’s upcoming governor’s mansion race, we have the common perception that its only between Cuomo and Astorino. In fact the race features two other candidates from the green and Libertarian parties.

            First up is the green party candidate Howie Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins also ran in the 2010 race but lost only gaining 1.3% of the vote. Hawkins is a freight unloader for the united parcel service and runs on the platform of climate change. He plans to cut the states greenhouse gas emission but 80% by the year 2050. This plan includes building 20 new nuclear power plants to fuel the state’s electrical needs. Realistically Hawkins just doesn't have the interests of new Yorkers to win.

            The next and last candidate on the ballot is Michael McDermott. McDermott is the libertarian candidate on the ballot. He ran for the US house in 2012 and lost to democrat Steve Israel. He gained only 0.5% of the vote in New York’s third district. His profession is a real estate broker. He runs of the platform of reducing government interference in people’s lives. He also plans to reduce the government as a whole. What he fails to realize that is people want to be led not given complete freedom. The government is there to regulate people’s lives and that’s why they are there. His chances of winning are very slim.