Debate!

Rep. Tim Bishop from the 1st Congressional district went head to head with challenger Lee Zeldin on Wednesday night.  They hit on the issues the people wanted to hear, Ebola and Healthcare reform, Securing the U.S Border, Common Core, Dysfunctional Congress, Social Security and the power of ISIS. Moderator Denise Civiletti started the debate off with saying “this is not a sporting event, or a circus. It’s a debate.” 

On Common Core, Lee Zeldin said that “We’re throwing our kids in the deep end without a life jacket.” Calling upon the $700 million dollars New York State would lose if we did not adopt and implement the new education plan. Bishop said he wants reforming but that also it was not his decision to add Common Core it was the State Senate. 

Stefanik, Funiciello and Woolf also squared off in a debate on Wednesday sponsored by Time Warner Cable. You can watch the debate here.  

Similar Amendment Defeated Last Decade

The New York State constitutional amendment aiming to fix the state's redistricting procedures (Proposal 1), has come under fire for a year and a half from news editorials such as the Albany Times Union, The Post-Standard, and The Daily News. The amendment, hoping to cure gerrymandering ailments, creates a separate commission of legislators picked by various party leaders in Albany.

The criticism surrounds the picking of commissioners by party leaders. These editorials see this as a thinly-veiled attempt of legislators to secure their reelection bids by selecting commissioners based off political gain rather than independent civic duty. The word independent even had to be struck from the measure per a New York Supreme Court ruling last month.

The amendment certainly has its positives. Instead of the current solution of each House mapping their own districts, which politicizes the process, the commission would dictate instead of just advising with no teeth as it is set up presently. Opponents simply claim it is shifting virtually no political power to and from either party and either house; it is a different solution to the same problem.

Certainly, this would benefit the majority party. Drawing electoral maps gives the majority party a powerful institutional advantage because each district can be tailor-made to suit the politician rather than the other way around. This enticing incentive given to the incumbent means less campaigning: and less competition. With fewer competitive districts, the voters stand to lose the most. Whether this solution helps or hurts remains to be seen.

Ohio attempted something similar in 2005. Their commission would be chosen first by judges and the remainder by those selected, to ensure impartiality. The commission would use a mathematical formula to determine a district's competitiveness and plan a redesign. The measure was soundly defeated by a 30/70 margin. What does this say for New York's attempt?

Struggles Within a Party

          New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who is up for re-election has been battling democrats for the past three and a half years. At a recent speech given by Schniederman at Columbia University, he spoke in front of a group of students about the role of politicians in our modern society. The Attorney General stressed in his speech the struggles he has had in office. He spoke about the necessity of holding corrupt left wing politicians accountable to the same degree of right wing politicians.He also pushed for reforms in the way government is run. While having the majority throughout the state Democrats are potentially stuck with greater political fallout.

                                          (Students gathering at Columbia University. Google)              

           He related how Democratic states and Republican states are butting heads while the Federal Government is incapable of settle disagreements. He gives an example of the structuring of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Heroin Task Force. This is a multi state cooperation to help solve the mutual issue of illicit drugs.Schneiderman elaborated on how this political corruption is clogging up our system. While politicians actually attempt (and do) getting elected for the sole purpose of preventing our legislature from "doing work".

           "As soon as I get elected to office, I immediately find the people who are in charge at everything and much bigger than me and I pick a fight with them," states Schneiderman. For the latter of his time in office the Attorney General reports he frequently battles within his party, speaking about his position on settlements for big banks. "I spend virtually no time fighting Republicans. All of my challenges come from getting Democrats to act on the rhetoric".

                                          (Google)                                  

          It will be very interesting to see how this comes into play this election season. Eric Schneiderman faces John Cahill a member of the Conservative party, Ramon Jimenez and Carl Person.

Are the Voters in Charge?

Six New York state senators are facing no opposition this election cycle. All representing central New York, these five Republican and one Democrat incumbents do not have to worry about reelection pressures. It was questioned by a watchdog group, Citizens Union, as to why six neighboring districts virtually lack any competition, a necessity of elections in a democracy.

State Political Maps

Gerrymandering is the process in which politicians redraw voting district maps to favor themselves and their party. It is exactly what Citizens Unions is crying foul within central New York's bare election cycle. The group raised the issue in 2012 when New York commissioned to rezone its electoral districts. Gerrymandering has become such an issue in New York that it will be decided Nov. 4th, by voters.

The constitutional amendment will attempt to fix a lingering problem central New Yorkers have been facing for almost two decades. Let alone the rest of the state, central New York contained little competition since the 1998 elections. Interestingly, none of the six incumbents have voiced support for the controversial amendment. The amendment would create an independent commission to oversee redistricting instead of the current solution of a commission only advising the legislature's decision making.

It's controversy stems from the fact that the commissioners are selected by the legislature's leaders, calling opponents to say it's less of a solution than a glorified and expensive continuation of an already failing system.

War Has Been Launched In Three Key Battleground Congressional Districts

With the United States Congress being as greatly polarized as it is today, it’s becoming more and more important to have a majority in both the House and Senate. Without control of both houses, gridlock usually occurs and that makes it more difficult to pass certain legislation and policies that a specific party is looking to implement. The Republicans certainly have control of the House of Representatives, and the Democrats currently have a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate. For these reasons, the 2014 midterm elections are incredibly important. One way the Republicans are looking to increase their majority advantage in the House of Representatives is by winning a handful of tossup races in New York.

 

Heading into the 2014 midterm elections in New York, the Democrats will be incumbents in 21 out of the 27 districts. The Republicans are aiming their campaign efforts and money at picking off the three most vulnerable Democratic incumbents out of the 27 districts. On the flip side, the Democrats are also focusing their efforts at winning those tightly contested races so they can remain status quo. The reason that the parties are focusing their campaign efforts on only three or four races out of the 27 districts is because the Democrats are predicted to easily win 17 of the districts (3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,17,20,25,26) and the Republicans are predicted to easily win 5 districts (2,19,21,22,23,27).

 

The four battleground districts are the 1^st, 11^th, 18^th, and 24^st districts. The 1^st district is a race between incumbent Tim Bishop (D) who has been in office for 10 years but has seen a decline in support and in the 2012 election only won by a slim 4.6% margin. His opponent Lee Zedlin (R) has been gaining some support recently in the Republican community after endorsements by Senator John McCain and Donald Trump. This race is going to be determined by a few key issues. The Bishop campaign is stressing the need to improve the environment and fighting for seniors and opposing the potential attack of Medicare by the Republican budget. The issues that the Zedlin campaign is focusing on are shrinking the size of government, and giving families a better hope for their children by mending the job market and improving the education system.

 

Another battleground district is a rematch between incumbent Sean Maloney (D) and former 18^th district representative Nan Hayworth (R). Maloney just beat out Hayworth by a 3.7% margin in the 2012 election, and as Hayworth found out in 2012, representatives up for reelection after their first term are more vulnerable during their sophomore election. The issues that the Maloney campaign are focusing on are Social Security and Medicare, and he is highlighting his ability and knowledge to create jobs, as he was President Clinton’s top advisor during one of the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. The Hayworth campaign is focusing on issues like fixing the tax code in New York and replacing Obamacare with a more sensible healthcare plan.

The last battleground district in New York is the tightly contested 24^th district between incumbent Dan Maffei (D) and John Kato (R). In a recent Siena College Poll, Maffei holds an eight-point lead over Kato, largely because he has a bigger lead with Democrats than Kato does with Republicans. But the catch is, is that Kato has just started his campaign and has only introduced himself to only a third of the district. The important issues in this district are about job creation, healthcare, and Social Security and Medicare.

Sprouts of Competition

          As election day gets closer and closer we see our candidates scrambling for last chances to gain voters. In our New York District Attorney race we see office holder Eric Schneiderman in one corner, with his incumbent John Cahill in the other. Both have been managing to make wide appearances as well as keep there names in the news. 

(legislativegazette.com)

          John Cahill the Republican candidate sat down at the New York Athletic Club for breakfast this past week. There he spoke with fellow politicians and voters about the importance of a "strong" Attorney General. There he managed to keep the pressure on Schneiderman with John Bharara's a  southern New York DA backing.

          Schneiderman, our current AG has had some rebuttals of his own. His office says they have helped clean up Albany with more than fifty prosecutions of corrupt officials. As well as pushing endlessly for ethics reform in the Senate. Yet being the one in office he has all eyes on him.

(lohudblogs.com)

          Fortunately in our closest statewide election we will get a debate. In front of a live audience, and televised the two incumbents will go head to head. This will be held at Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York on October 30th. 

Democrats and Republicans Coming to the Aid of Maloney

With the race of New York 18^th Congressional District heating up, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee prepared a television advertisement against Maloney’s opponent Nan Hayworth. The ad talks about how Hayworth is a Tea Party extremist. The advertisement will appear on local cable stations starting this morning and will keep going until Election Day. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stated that the advertisement costs about $750,000. The DCCC is upping its efforts to keep the Democrats controlling their respective state houses.

Here is the video of the advertisement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sAhX5I7MrSg

In other news, Republican State Senator Greg Ball has crossed party lines to endorse freshman Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney for re-election in the 18th Congressional District. Ball endorsement for Sean Maloney is another setback for Republican rep. Nan Hayworth. Ball who served in Air Force explained that Hayworth did nothing to assist Veterans. “The only thing that you could count on was a busy signal or no call back.” Ball stated. Ball goes on to explain that Hayworth votes to the extreme right of the party, which is the exact opposite of Senator Ball. Ball announced his endorsement for Sen. Maloney at an event for bipartisan Veterans last week.

The 21st District is Coming to an End

ABC News has now released an article on Elise Stefanik called "Meet Elise Stefanik, the Candidate Who Could Become Youngest Woman in Congress." It literally lists reasons why she should win the seat. It talks about here being a "small business women" with a "degree from Harvard," and then it goes and shows her Instagram account where she is posting that she is reading "Last of the Mohicans" and drinking pumpkin spice coffees. Then the article ends with the kicker "Stefanik has a Double- Digit Lead. A poll, released Oct. 2 by WWNY-7 News and the Siena Research Institute, found that Stefanik leads Woolf by a 46 percent to 33 percent margin." 

If Aaron Woolf thought to himself things just can't get worse, it did. The National Democrats pulled their support for him yesterday. "In late September, a Democratic Super PAC called House Majority shelved plans to spend $300,000 on media buys to support Woolf." With the GOP supporting Stefanik whole heartedly and the National Democrats pulling this support, I feel as if this race is all but over for Aaron Woolf.

Could we see a Major Shift in the New York Senate?

According to the most recent Siena College poll there are three very crucial Senate races where incumbent Democratic Senators are trailing to their Republican challengers. 

 

Republican Senator Rich Funke has a 57-32 percent lead over Democratic Senator Ted O’ Brien. Republican Senator Sue Serino has a 52 percent to 40 percent lead over Democratic Senator Terry Gipson. And Republican George Amedore is leading the incumbent Democratic Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk by 10 percentage points. All three of those Democrats won their respective districts in 2012. With the increasing approval for Republicans in these districts the Republicans are looking for Senate majority. It does seem that Andrew Cuomo is the heavy favorite to win Governor however if the Republicans win these three key Senate races we could see a divided government in New York State Government. 

 

  There was more good news for Republicans last week, as the Siena poll showed that Republicans were favored in two Long Island districts.

 

In other news, there was a debate in Poughkeepsie between Senator Terry Gipson-D and county Legislator Sue Serino-R. These two candidates will face off for the 41^st Senate District in the November 4^th election. A major issue discussed at the debate was the topic of abortion. Senator Serino questioned the legitimacy of the proposed Women's Equality Act. She questioned the Act’s plan to allow a “non doctor” to perform an abortion. She has even stated that she opposes abortion. Senator Gipson on the other hand supports abortion and believes that the Women’s Equality Act is simply putting the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling into state law. Another hot topic addressed at this debate was campaign financing.  In the debate, Senator Gipson said he supports the public financing of campaigns. Serino addressed the fact that public financing campaigns will increase taxes. Near the end of the debate both candidates highlighted some environmental issues. Gipson stressed his opposition to hydro-fracking. Serino explained the importance drinkable and renewable water resources but she also argued that if it (hydro-fracking) is done correctly, it could improve the state’s economy.

Money and Education

            The two candidates running for New York State governor have two totally different plans for the state’s education system. These sharp differences should be taken into consideration when voters make their way to the polls on November 4^th.

            The governor’s plan is create these new programs which would benefit the state’s education system in many ways. They include 2 billion dollars to upgrade the technology at schools. Another proposal is a full scholarship to the SUNY and CUNY schools to high school students who are in the top ten their class who want to peruse a career in science, technology engineering or Math. One thing people fail to take into consideration is that where is all this money coming from? The governor cannot pull 4 billion dollars out of thin air to make these changes occur. Democratic senator Neil Breslin insisted that the state would find a way. This way includes taxing the top tier New Yorkers pending approval.

            Rob Astorino’s plan is to actually cut the state’s spending on the education system and to decrease the tightness on the state’s education. Astorino’s plan to me seems too soft. He claims he wants to increase the focus on science math and foreign language, but that cannot be done without investing money into it. It seems like both candidates have two extreme views on how the education in the state should be ran. One wants thinks the state has an unlimited budget and the other is basically going to a thrift shop looking for quality items.