NY's only statewide political program
2011
If He Does Say So Himself
Dec 23rd - 8:57 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a closed-door cabinet meeting Wednesday to crow about the long list of accomplishments during his rookie year in office, an administration source reports.
Afterwards, press officers were given a cheat sheet featuring a list of everything about which the governor is most “proud,” including, as spokesman Stephen Morello put it in the accompanying email, “legislative breakthroughs, fiscal reforms and successful (and continuing) efforts to improve the workings and efficiency of state government.”
Agency spokespeople were encouraged to share the list with their commissioners and other top level officials. Morello urged them to contact him with any questions, closing with a “happy holidays for all of you and another productive year ahead.”
Leading the list is the 2011-12 budget, which Cuomo managed to push through the Legislature on time and – as promised during the 2010 campaign – without any tax increases to close the $10 billion deficit.
No. 2, interestingly, is the middle-class tax cut achieved through the extraordinary session tax code reform deal passed earlier this month – a move that also resulted in a higher than pre-millionaire’s tax rate for the state’s wealthiest residents, causing some on the right to accuse the governor of breaking his no-new-taxes pledge.
Numbers three, four and five the trio of post-budget policy proposals Cuomo pushed during the 2011 session: Ethics reform, the tax cap and the legalization of same-sex marriage.
None of those are a surprise; they were all big ticket items. But the list offers a glimpse into Cuomo’s thinking because it includes some issues that didn’t get much press but clearly are considered important by the governor and his staff – perhaps for political reasons?
For example: The expanded effort to grow MWBE (minority and women-owned) business contracts with the state. That’s a pretty standard thing for governors to do, but it’s also a top priority with Latino and black officials, who provided some rare public criticism of Cuomo for his perceived lack of attention to their communities.
Another one: Launching “New York Fresh Connects Farmers’ Markets” to increase the availability of locally grown produce to underserved communities. That one’s a win with both rural constituents – in other words, farmers – and inner-city voters, too.
There’s also some items included that are part of ongoing initiatives, like the effort to reform Medicaid and the downsizing of the state’s juvenile justice system.
Cox Says He’s Staying Neutral
Nov 23rd - 11:08 am
New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox likes the cut of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s jib, but he has no plans to lay down an endorsement in the 2012 GOP presidential primary.
“I want to make sure people pick their candidate,” he said in an interview on Fred Dicker’s Talk-1300 AM radio show. “I’m going to stay neutral and work to keep the peace here.”
Cox, did however, add that he believes Gingrich, who is the latest Mitt Romney alternative to surge in national polls “can go toe to toe with President Obama.”
What was perhaps most interesting, though, was Cox’s repeated name-dropping of Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Turner, who won the disgraced Anthony Weiner’s Brooklyn congressional seat.
Cox is clearly resting on that special election win as a sign that New York Republicans, heavily outnumbered by Democrats, are making a rebound. Republicans are shut out of every statewide office and hold a thin 32-30 majority in the state Senate.
Compounding the headache are high-profile wins by Democrats in Suffolk and Erie county executive races. The chairman spun those wins as saying they are self-contained races (no doubt he’d sing a different tune if Chris Collins won a second term or if Angie Carpenter defeated Steve Bellone).
He did point to handful of GOP success, including the breaking of the supermajority on the Westchester County Board of Legislators that came after a heavy campaign from rising GOP star Rob Astorino, the county executive. The Republicans helped fund that effort to the tune of $100,000.
Cox added that Bellone and Mark Poloncarz were able to win because they grabbed Republican policy goals like lower taxes and spending (he’s trotted out that same line when assessing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s popularity).
“They stole our clothes,” Cox said.
And ICYMI, Cox was a guest on the show last night. The full interview with Liz can be found here.
Cuomo Takes Victory Lap
Nov 9th - 11:33 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo feted the big three victories from last night on Talk-1300 AM this morning after Democrats he personally stumped for went on to win off-cycle elections.
Cuomo said Mark Poloncarz’s victory over first-term incumbent Republican Chris Collins was “stunning” and called Steve Bellone the county executive-elect in Suffolk County, a “rising star.” Mike Spano’s victory as Yonkers mayor shows voters in the state’s fourth-largest city are impatient for change, he added.
“I believe the right people won in the big races last night,” Cuomo said.
But Republicans today are spinning some of their wins in Dutchess and Monroe counties. Marc Molinaro scored a blowout win over Democrat Dan French, while Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks scored an unprecedented third term over Sandra Frankel.
But the governor, who traveled to different ends of the state to back his candidates, dismissed those claims.
“I don’t think the Republican Party is going to be claiming success on any calibration or calculus last night,” he said, adding, “Erie County and Suffolk County are the big wons, they’re the bellwethers.”
As pointed out last night, the big three wins are seemingly significant victories for the governor, who continues to ride high in the polls. But they’re also wins in which the Democratic candidate in each race some built-in advantages, including financial backing and party enrollment in addition to strong union support. Poloncarz probably did benefit from an infusion of help from the state Democratic Party, whose de facto leader at this point is the governor.
If anything, the Democratic victories cut down possible challengers to Cuomo in 2014 and even gave Democrats some momentum heading into 2012 for state legislative races.
As for his own popularity compared to the continued skepticism toward state government, Cuomo gave the press a big, fat pitch. In dismissing criticism of state government, Cuomo told Fred Dicker, “I am the government.”
Twitter went nuts on that one. It’s an assertion, which if taken out of context, could be a potentially tough one for the governor to live down one day.
Mark Poloncarz Declares Victory in Erie County
Nov 9th - 12:26 am
Democrat Mark Poloncarz thanked voters, his family, Governor Cuomo and even his opponent, Republican incumbent Chris Collins, as he declared victory in the race for Erie County Executive.
Poloncarz Holds Lead, Bellone Wins Handily
Nov 8th - 11:39 pm
With 82 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Mark Poloncarz holds a 53 percent to 47 percent lead over incumbent Republican Chris Collins in the Erie County executive race.
If Poloncarz prevails, he’d knock off a potential challenger to political patron Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who endorsed and campaigned for the Erie County comptroller.
As of 11:30, Poloncarz scored 97,801 votes to 85,193, making it unlikely that Collins would be able to make up the difference with absentee ballots.
In Suffolk County, Democrat Steve Bellone appears to have defeated Republican Angie Carpenter, 56 percent to 43 percent, with 935 districts out of 1,047 reporting.
Bellone, the Babylon town supervisor, will replace outgoing County Executive Steve Levy, the Democrat-turned-Republican who launched an aborted campaign for governor in 2010, but dropped his re-election bid after running afoul of campaign-finance laws.
In Monroe County, Maggie Brooks is headed to another term as county executive as she easily defeated Democratic challenger Sandra Frankel.
The Assembly is also up for two more vacancies.
Republican Marcus Molinaro has defeated Beacon town Supervisor Dan French to become the next Dutchess County executive.
In Yonkers, Assemblyman Mike Spano, a Republican-turned-Democrat and scion of the powerful Spano political family, has scored an easy win to become the mayor of the state’s fourth-largest city. He is the first Democrat elected mayor in the city since 1995.
It’s easy to spin many of the races in which Bellone, Poloncarz and Spano all won as victories for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The three candidates benefited from last-minute stumping by the wildly popular governor.
But all were running in Democratic-friendly areas. Bellone and Spano both had financial advantages over their opponents, as well as the benefit of running in Democratic-heavy areas. Poloncarz, while outspent by Collins, had a huge enrollment advantage in Erie County.
None of these races were necessarily pre-determined outcomes, but given the Democrats’ built-in advantages, it’s too easy to overestimate Cuomo’s impact.
Erie’s Absentees
Nov 8th - 4:59 pm
If the Siena poll is correct — and certainly Chris Collins’ partisans have a lot to say about their recent surveys — then we’re about to see a potentially too-close-to-call race between the Republican first-term incumbent and Democratic challenger Mark Poloncarz.
That could send this process to potentially drawn-out recount and make the absentee ballot count all the more important.
The Erie County Board of Elections says 8,431 absentee ballots have been received so far out of 12,084 that were mailed out to voters. Unfortunately, no breakdown of the absentee voters’ party affiliation is available.
The most recent Siena College poll of the race found a dead heat between the two candidates.
Erie County enrollment stats: 311,130 Democrats, 163,155 Republicans, 12,583 Conservatives, 3,021 WFP members, 27,293 Independence Party members and 102,336 blanks.
Local Versus National
Nov 8th - 1:32 pm
I really, really wanted to go all day without writing “all politics is local.”
Sue me, I can’t.
But that is the debate the state parties are having today — namely whether 2011 off-cycle races being decided today have any implications for next year’s congressional and presidential contests.
Naturally, the state Republican Party is trying to spin today’s results as one with national implications (never mind statewide implications in 2012 and 2014).
From their statement:
Vote Republican to send a message to Washington that we’re fed up with increasing debt and government overreach.
Vote Republican to send a message to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand that we’re fed up with their rubberstamping of Harry Reid’s wasteful spending measures.
Vote Republican to send a message to Barack Obama that he should be very, very worried about 2012.
But it’s really on the statewide level the New York GOP cares about. They are no doubt anxious about the chances of Erie County Executive Chris Collins winning a second term and have invested as much $100,000 into the Westchester County Board of Legislators races in an effort to bolster rising star Rob Astorino.
But state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs sang a very different tune to The New York Times, saying it’s all local, local, local.
“This isn’t an election that is about anything other than local issues,” Mr. Jacobs said, “but mood is important, and the Democratic mood is definitely on the upswing.”
But when it comes down to it, the real implications for these local races is quite simply this: They illustrate the strength and sophistication of county party organizations and their GOTV efforts.
Roundup: Twenty-Four Notices
Nov 7th - 4:17 pm
This is by no means complete, and I’ll to this as more come across, but here’s a quick snapshot look at some of the more interesting 24-hour campaign disclosure notices for the local races set to conclude tomorrow.
Plus, if you find a good one, please send it our way!
*New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a $1,500 donation to Schenectady mayor hopeful Roger Hull.
*Dutchess County Republican Committee gave Marc Molinaro a $5,000 check for county executive bid (h/t Gannett).
*Former Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Bob Wilmers, known for a fierce anti-labor stance, gave $2,500 last-minute contribution to Erie County Executvie Chris Collins.
*Democratic Yonkers mayoral candidate Mike Spano gets a $2,447 donation from the Yonkers Raceway PAC. His brother, former state Sen. Nick Spano, works for raceway’s lobbying shop.
*Demoratic Suffolk County executive candidate Steve Bellone transferred $25,000 from his town supervisor account to his county executive campaign.
Why You Should Keep An Eye On Westchester
Nov 7th - 12:03 pm
There’s an important battle over legislative and budgetary control that could have statewide implications — and it’s happening in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s backyard.
As noted earlier, the state Republican Party is pouring what resources it has into a campaign called Candidates For A Healthy Westchester, a slate of Board of Legislators hopefuls backed by rising GOP star Rob Astorino, the county executive who swept out a seemingly invulnerable Democratic incumbent two years ago.
Tuesday is a mid-term election of sorts for Astorino, who has been in fierce conflict with the 12-member Democratic supermajority that controls the Board of Legislators who have largely stymied his efforts to cut spending.
Astorino needs just one of his non-incumbent candidates to win in order to break the logjam. While that may seem easy, many of Astorino’s challengers are running in Democratic-heavy districts, hence the need for the county executive to cut a TV commercial and get some support from the state party apparatus for mailings.
Astorino also has recruited his political consultant Bill O’Reilly, a veteran of New York City-area campaigns, to manage this latest effort.
But why the concerted and expensive effort for what amounts to a provincial contest?
Astorino is a potential statewide candidate, but he’s also basically the star pitcher of an otherwise lousy farm team. He’ll become all the important if businessman Harry Wilson runs against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand next year or, as polls suggest, Erie County Executive Chris Collins loses tomorrow to Democrat Mark Poloncarz.
The county executive needs some concrete accomplishments should he decide to run for higher office or even win re-election in 2013. The county has also been warned that its coveted AAA bond rating could be downgraded, a move that would certainly put a blot on Astorino’s resume, no matter how much he knocks the Democratic-controlled board.
State Republicans, I think it’s fair to say, don’t want to lose Astorino, a rare downstate Republican.
Cuomo, who lives in Bedford, should watch the results of the legislative races closely.
Cox Says County Races Will Build Big Mo
Nov 4th - 4:36 pm
State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox issued a statement urging voters to “send a message” to President Obama and Washington (side note: why not just use email?) by voting the Republican line next Tuesday in local elections.
In Cox’s estimation, the races in Suffolk, Erie and off-off-year Legislature election in Westchester has the possibility to build some momentum for the Republican Party.
“Victories in key County Executive and County Legislature races in battleground areas like Suffolk, Westchester and Erie, as well as many other counties and cities, will send a message to Washington that voters are fed up with high unemployment and wasteful ‘stimulus’ spending and are ready for a dose of fiscal sanity.”
It’s interesting he refers to Westchester, where the state GOP has taken what limited resources it has to give rising star County Executive Rob Astorino some financial backing while he wages electoral war with local Democrats, as a “battleground.” Westchester, despite Astorino’s upset win over longtime and seemingly cemented-in-place incumbent Andrew Spano two years ago, has been reliably Democratic for nearly a generation in presidential elections.
But Republicans see their opportuntiy in a county with the highest property taxes in the nation. Though it can’t help that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who is staking his claim as a fiscally conservative, socially liberal suburban executive, lives in the backyard.
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