Women's Equality Express To Victory

With almost a month away to the November 4th election, the Cuomo campaign is heading out on a bus tour to three major upstate cities (Albany, Syracuse, Rochester) to highlight their support of a 10-point women's rights agenda.  He is calling this bus tour "Women's Equality Express" and it is being highly supported by many members of the democratic community like Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle. Some issues that are being addressed by the 10-point women's rights agenda are; strengthening the laws that require equal pay for equal work, since women preforming the same jobs as males get paid 84% of what their male counterparts do. Other issues focus on strengthening laws against sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as limiting the amount of discrimination that women face when applying for jobs and limiting the amount of discrimination they face while working at their jobs. 

Cuomo's gubernatorial opponent Rob Astorino is attacking the validity of the bus tour and is going on a bus tour himself, calling it the "Shelly Silver Express" which is an attack at the governor for not calling for the resignation of Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver who has been often criticized for his handling of sexual-harassment cases in the chamber. Astorino addressed the Sheldon Silver issue by saying "Mr. Cuomo showed zero regard for the victims of these sex crimes, choosing instead to prop up a political crony by burying an investigation--a habit that continues to this day. My Cuomo needs to explain at every stop of his tour Saturday whether equality was extended to Mr. Silvers victims."

21st District Polling Gap is Closing

A Republican polling firm Harper Polling found the gap is closing with Stefanik having a 45 to 37 lead while Green Party candidate Funiciello grabs 8 percent of the vote. Woolf "despite running against a woman on the ballot,Woolf is actually leading among women voters in the North Country by a three point margin." 

Stefanik delivered a national republican speech yesterday. Right as the race was tightening this may give her a push back to take a bigger lead. Stefanik addressed the issue of government jobs and spending in the 21st district with saying "I think the best way to grow the economy is not increasing the size of government; it's actually cutting government so small businesses are able to thrive." When asked about climate change she wants to go to a table with China and India already there so that the United States would not be the only nation trying to fix there climate changing issues.

Stefanik also brought up that she would be willing to break away from the party on issues she believes in such as "equal pay for equal work for women." She finished her interview with "the biggest takeaway is the frustration with Washington and the understanding that Washington as usual, is broken. The other big takeaway is that people are looking for a new generation of leaders." 

Right after Germany cut college tuition costs and then also offers "free" degrees to international students, Woolf came out and spoke about the rise of student loans. "Not only because it's an important investment in our future, but because of the looming economic crisis. If these loans start defaulting in a major way, we've seen the way cascading default can lead to economic catastrophe." He would like to cut "big oil subsidies" and give it back to the public. Stefanik believes the student loan debt should be addressed as a bipartisan issue and she wants to make college more affordable too. 

Lee Zeldin released a new TV spot where he beliefs towards Common Core and the affect it has on his daughters and his family. 

Woolfpack Comeback?

The NY-21st district race recently saw a blip of life after what many believed to be finished. According to this new poll, Aaron Woolf (D) has gained substantially against his opponent, Elise Stefanik (R). She still has a commanding 8-point lead, but it has since shrunk from 13. This race may have to be reexamined.

 

The two candidates fair similarly in likeability, but Woolf's Democratic dog tag may symbolize a union with the unfavorable President in the North Country. President Obama's unfavorability soars twice as large as his favorability in the region, which may hang a noose over Woolf's bid for Congress. (An interesting question must be raised on the validity of the data, though. Forty-two percent of the respondents came from outside the district in the neighboring capital region. The other half was split between Watertown and Plattsburgh, also including Burlington, so it remains to be seen if Woolf’s comeback is indeed real.)

 

For his part, Woolf has distanced himself from President Obama's landmark and lambasted healthcare law, colloquially known as Obamacare. His position of fixing some wrong parts of the law may not be enough of a distinction for voters while Stefanik's platform is clear and concise. She wants it repealed and replaced. Stefanik has a clear advantage to step back from Obamacare in a district so heavily against the President, which may be a major contributing to her continued lead in this race.

Vote or Die

           Low voter turnouts have by no means been uncommon throughout our country and even our state. So it was of very little surprise, in the September 2014 NY Gubernatorial primary ; 9.3 percent of registered Democrats voted. This is out of 5.8 million people, which is a extremely low turnout. Less people voted in 2014's primary than in 2010. The reason for this could be because low competition and competition increases voter turn-out.

          Cuomo won the primary with 62% of the votes, with Zepher Teachout following with 34%. “For an incumbent governor to be held under two thirds of a vote in his own party is not a sign of strength, even if nobody turned out to vote, and the fact that nobody turned out to vote makes it clear that his candidacy was uninspiring,” reported Ken Sherrill.

                                        

          The voting was very wide spread, 51.9 percent of the votes came from NYC area. Cuomo had high numbers in Western New York where his running mate's home is located. Teachout reported high turnouts in central and southern New York where her “hydrofracking” issue really hit hard. This spread shows many voters in city’s yet little in the pockets in rural areas. This is very common throughout our great state, and many others.

Turnout Woes

Voter turnout in local elections has been steadily trickling downward this last decade, according to a new report. Local elections see by far the lowest turnout of any of the three levels of government, including state and federal. Recent mayoral elections in Los Angeles and New York City actually saw a decrease in voter turnout, contrary to their veiled high profile appearance.

governing.com

 

It is important to note that these high profile elections in metropolitan areas are where political machines had institutionally got-out-the-vote, albeit to ensure they stayed in power. Now that voter turnout is historically low, it could be we went too far in the other direction. The tighter election laws squeezing out political machines and ID protections have not helped people go to the polls in addition to the public's unfavorable view of government as a whole. This doesn't mean officials aren't trying to fix the ongoing problem, either.

Los Angeles had the idea to change the election year from that of a staggered cycle with federal elections to coincide with presidential elections, as they claim it increases turnout and saves taxpayers money. Interestingly, they also had the idea to raffle out cash prizes to random voters!

Too Little, Too Late For Astorino?

New York gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino has had a very busy week, as he continues to try to increase his chances of being the next governor of New York. He still trails Governor Cuomo by nearly 25% in the polls as of September 21st.

On Monday, Astorino had an Editorial Board session with the Poughkeepsie Journal where he discussed various issues and laid out plans for education and business growth in the state. Some of the main issues that he discussed during this session were the SAFE Act, Common Core, his stance on social issues like abortion and same sex marriage, and START-UP NY.

When speaking about the SAFE Act, which stops criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying a gun by requiring universal background checks, Astorino said “I would get rid of the whole thing.” Another thing that he said he would repeal was the infamous Common Core and he said he would replace it with his own system based on his 15-point educational plan that he just recently released.

 And although Astorino is pro-life and is against abortion unless it's cases of rape, incest, and cases where it is a health risk for the mother, he said that New York is a pro-choice state so abortion isn’t going anywhere. He took a similar stance in regards to same-sex marriage and said that even though he is against it ideologically, he respected the way that it was brought through the legislature, debated about and then fairly voted on by New Yorkers. So he claimed that he would not repeal it for those reasons.

He also vowed that if he were elected, his first 90 days in office would be focused on making a budget and looking at hydraulic fracking because it has the opportunity to create thousands of jobs.

 If all this wasn’t enough of the gubernatorial candidate, on Tuesday Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke in front of a small crowd in Buffalo in support of Astorino and the two attacked Governor Cuomo and his Moreland Commission scandal as well as many other policy issues that the governor has implemented or supported. Astorino holds strong views on governmental officials and corruption and has said that elected officials should lose their pensions if they’re found guilty of corruption.

The House on Abortion

When someone thinks of a heated issue in modern times, abortion is one of the first that comes to people’s mind. Also being such an important topic, people tend to have a few key issues that are important to them and look at those very closely.

Abortion is contested in America today; it is debated, protested, practiced and outlawed. How some of our representatives feel about this subject is a vital part of our knowledge for voting. Here are some of their views...

Timothy Bishop a Democraticrepresentative of NY-1: Says he doesn’t want to ban federal health coverage for abortion. Is for developing stem cell research and embryotic stem cell research. Wants to encourage preventing pregnancy, and make emergency contraception more readily available.

Joseph Crowley a Democraticrepresentative of NY-7: Believes it should be a crime to harm a fetus in the process of another crime. Does not advocate for partial-birth abortions, except to save a mothers life.

Peter King RepublicanRepresentative of NY-3: Thinks we should ban health coverage for abortion. Does not think we should research more into stem cell/embryotic cell lines. Says minors shouldn’t be transported to get an abortion. Votes yes for cloning being illegal for reproduction and medical purposes.

Vito Fossella Republicanrepresentative of NY-13: Votes yes on more research of stem cell/embryotic cell lines. Says it is a crime to hurt a fetus in the process of another crime. Also it should be illegal to transport a minor to get an abortion. Is against partial birth unless to save the mothers life.

Knowledge is power, or so it's said. If you know how your representative has voted (or their position on an issue) it can go a long way to informing you how they will act on your behalf.

On the Issue of Climate Change in the 4th Congressional District

Democratic Congressional candidate Kathleen Rice received the endorsement of the Sierra Club Monday for her plan on climate change if she is voted into office. Kathleen Rice is going against Bruce Blakeman in the 4^th congressional district in New York. At her Garden City campaign office Rice stated that climate change is not only a problem for our environment but it is a problem for our national security and economy. Climate change is an important issue for the people in the 4^th district as that district was hit badly by Hurricane Sandy. If the emission of green house gases increase and the sea levels keep rising most of the 4^th district could be underwater in the next 60 years. Rice went on to explain that if she is elected she would be a prominent speaker for reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and insist that the government should increase investments in sources like solar energy and wind power. One of the main reasons why the Sierra Club endorsed Kathleen Rice is that she is not afraid to work with Democrats and Republicans on the issue of climate change. “I’m not afraid to reach across the aisle. That’s what we need more of in Washington,” Rice stated.

Blakeman’s campaign office has expressed in an email that Blakeman understands that climate change is a serious matter. If voted into Congress, Blakeman will make a stand for energy conservation and the reduction of carbon emission. However Rice’s campaign office released a video from the 2010 Senatorial debate where Blakeman was asked if global warning existed and in response to that question Blakeman answered, “I don’t know”.

Here is that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOquSnC-8Y0

Down to the Wire

A recent poll from the GOP shows that the 1st Congressional district race is closer than other polls suggest. The survey suggests that Lee Zeldin and Tim Bishop are tied with 46% of the vote with 7% undecided. The article does note the other recent Siena poll which put Bishop ahead 51% to 41%. The GOP has stated that the Siena poll is different from what they have been finding so the race might be the closest one in New York.

In attack ads both candidates from the 21st district are wrong. Stefanik ads are more to the point though. With Woolf's attack ads addressing too many points, voters are left questioning what exactly are they supposed to get from the 30-second TV spot. Stefanik leading Woolf by 13% in the recent Siena poll suggests that the Democratic party is backing away from what was once a very close race.

The American Action Network released an ad on Tim Bishop called "Damn Good Idea?" It talks about Tim Bishop's support for President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act. "I think it's a damn bad idea" is what John from the ad thinks of "Obamacare."

Tim Bishop also recently released an ad stating that he saved "950 Long Island jobs."

Ted O’Brien’s Push to Election Day.

Last week with the help of Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Ted O’Brien was in Western New York rallying support in the 55^th State Senator District. Andrea Stewart- Cousins hosted an event where Senator O’Brien was to be endorsed by Leading clergy members from the Rochester area. Rochester faith leaders appreciated Senator O’Brien work to raise minimum wage, increase funding for Rochester public schools, fight against gun violence, and increased funding for pre-kindergarten programs. Many clergy leaders were impressed with Senator O’Brien’s dedication to the city of Rochester. Reverend Ernest Walker Jr. from the Gospel Tabernacle Church explained that O’Brien needs to be reelected because his persistence for economic development, community safety, and better education for the leaders of tomorrow.

O’Brien also received endorsements from two important women’s rights groups. These groups are the Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York’s political committee and NARAL Pro-Choice New York. NARAL’s spokesperson Andrea Miller stated, “Ted [O’Brien] understands that all New Yorkers deserve to be treated equally and have access to affordable reproductive healthcare.” According to Senator Stewart-Cousins it is important for this district to have a senator that understands the importance of women’s rights. These two women’s right groups endorsing Ted O’Brien comes as no surprise as the Senate Democrats are pushing to implement Roe v. Wade into state law.

Also the O’Brien campaign sharply criticized Senate Republicans for “pushing a downstate-dominated agenda when families across New York are in need.” The GOP responded saying that the Democrats, who held the Senate majority, hurt families across New York by increasing taxes.