Wanted: Republican Candidates in New York Assembly Districts - Vol. 5

The final New York City borough to review for my series on competitive assembly districts is Manhattan.

The heart of New York City, New York county has elected republicans to the assembly even when the voter ratio is greater than in the outer boroughs. However, it appears that these successes are a thing of the past and the county committee is trying to figure out what it needs to do to return to glory.

The New York Republican County Committee must field candidates in the following districts for every election cycle. They must pound it into the minds of the voters that New York needs a strong opposition party, an elected opposition party, to prevent us from slipping back into the the era of crime and economic recession.

Assembly District 64
Assemblyman Sheldon Silver.
Battery Park City, Wall Street, Financial District, Chinatown, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Corlear’s Hook.
The district that has the Assembly Majority Leader, it is imperative that the Republican Party challenges Mr. Silver every two years with someone strong and formidable. The district has a registration ratio of 6 Democrats to 1 Republican so it is certainly an uphill challenge. Also, Silver challenges petitions all the time and is successful. In 2005, the Republican Manhattan Borough candidate, with no money and no campaigning in the 64 AD, got 19.2% of the vote. (Candidate Barry Popik’s results can be found at Urban Elephants). Getting nearly 20% of the vote with no name recognition is certainly an encouraging sign for any Republican running in this district. A challenger to Silver in 2006 who makes the ballot will really give us a good idea on the potential of a real formidable candidate. If you know of someone running, definitely volunteer for petitioning. We need someone on the ballot so we can learn our chances.

Assembly District 65
Assemblyman Alexander B Pete Gannis
Roosevelt Island, Yorkville, Upper East Side East
This district has a registration ratio of 2.5 Democrats to 1 Republican. Definitely a district that a Republican can take on. The Knickerbocker Club is the local county club. A Republican should be fielded in this district with every election cycle for assembly.

Assembly District 66
Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick
Abingdon Square, West Village, Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca.
This district has a registration ratio of 6.1 Democrats to 1 Republican. This would be a district to certainly consider a candidate. There is currently no active district club, so a strong candidacy could help build a local republican base and continue being a voice in the community. In order to bring better voting odds to districts is to field a candidate, with someone behind the scenes working to establish local representation. The Board of elections lists only 14 committee seats out of potentially 200 as filled. This indicates there is hardly any republican presence in an area that has potential of shifting to the right.

Assembly District 67
OPEN
Riverside Park, Upper West Side, West Side, Clinton (Hell’s Kitchen)
This district has a registration ratio of 4.8 Democrats to 1 Republican. Right now, Republicans are looking for someone to run in a Special Election expected for February. If no one steps forward, it will definitely be a seat to consider for November. The district is represented by the Parker Republican Club and I’ve heard there is a new Upper West Side Club, though I don’t have the name at the moment. Any Manhattan district below 5-1 should never miss an assembly election. Republicans should pound their platform over and over.

Assembly District 73
Assemblyman Jonathan L. Bing
Upper East Side, Central Park East, Sutton Place, Hunter College, Park Avenue, United Nations, Grand Central, Murry Hill North
This district has a registration ratio of 2 Democrats to 1 Republican. Definitely a district that the Republican Party must go after year after year. The district is represented by the Metropolitan Republican Club, which is also the home base of the NYRCC. If the GOP doesn’t field someone for this district, then I suggest a coup to topple the Executive Committee of County. There is no reason this district remains unchallenged.


Assembly District 74
OPEN
Murry Hill, Waterside, Gramercy Park, Union Square, Peter Cooper Village-Stuyvesant Town, Alphabet City
The voter registration for this district is 5.1 Democrat to 1 Republican. I’m not going to say this is an easy district. It certainly does have a voting base that tends to focus on issues, though and should consider a candidate with every election cycle. There will be a Special Election for this district too and right now there is a candidate running. If you would like to help out, contact the candidate through the district club at albanoclub@gmail.com. The Vincent Albano Republican Club is the local club.

Assembly District 75
Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried.
Central Park South, Clinton, Midtown, Chelsea, Flatiron District, Gramercy Park West, Madison Square.
The voter registration for this district is 4.3 Democrat to 1 Republican. The district club is the TR Group, which was started by former council candidate Michelle Bouchard. It is a very active club that can certainly be home-base for any candidate running. County should not overlook this district either.

The remaining districts (68, 69, 70, 71, 72) republicans have almost no chance of winning with voter ratios 10-1 or greater. However, that is not to say someone should not run. The goal for running in these districts would be to build a club. Club organizations in communities show the voters of the district that the party cares about the people is should represent. It should be the voice of the people when they oppose policy initiatives that can hurt the area. Standing with the people during times when the people object to government could lead to increased party registration and involvement. The 69 AD has a club, The Fighting 69th and the 70 AD has Harlem Republican Club. Both need to help build local representation, as do the other districts in northern manhattan.

There are two objectives for anyone running for office. One, if you have a good shot of winning because of the odds and your competitiveness, you should run to win so New York City has more republicans going to Albany. Two, if you know your chances of winning are slim, your goal should be building the party in your assembly district. Get your supporters together to join or form a local district club. Get them to run for open county committee seats so Election Districts have representation. It’s grassroots in its most active form. Pretty soon, you should start to see your district go from a 11-1 ratio (like in the 72 AD - Inwood) to a 8-1 or 7-1 voter ratio. It can happen. You just need patience, determination and you need to start by getting involved.