Remarks on Special Election 2/28

There were 7 Special Elections throughout New York State and two were right here in Manhattan.

The 67th AD was held by Scott Stringer, who recently ran and won the office of President of Manhattan. The candidates were:

Emily Csendes (Republican)
Linda Rosenthal (Democrat, Working Families)
Mike Lupinacci (Independence, New Leadership)
Charles Simon (West Side Progressive)

The voter registration of Democrats to Republicans is 4.9 to 1. With three Democrats splitting up the democratic base, there was hope that a strong turnout by registered republicans could possibly swing the seat to the GOP. Unfortunately, typical Special Election results showed low turnout and republican neglected to show up at the polls. Emily received 9% of the total vote. (Note: Lupinacci had two party lines and received 7% of the vote!)

The 74th AD was held by Steven Sanders, who recently retired to work for a lobbying firm. The candidates were:

Frank Scala (Republican
Sylvia Friedman (Democrat, Working Families)

The voter registration of Democrats to Republicans is 5.2 to 1. Even though the odds were greater than of the Upper West Side race, the voting base is much more moderate and there was certainly a chance of Frank Scala winning if the moderate Democrats and independents, as well as a good showing of registered republicans, turned up at the polls to vote. Unfortunately, with many New Yorkers not interested in local politics, many weren't even aware of the election and chose not to be a voice for change. Scala received roughly 30% of the vote, which is a strong showing, but still not enough. If it had been 30% of the republican base showing up and voting, things would've been different.

The Board of Elections has not published the final vote total yet. When they do, I will study the data and make a follow-up post on the results.

We need to become more active if we want to see change. I'm not asking that every registered republican become engaged in every aspect of local politics. I'm asking that you become aware of campaigns, that you spend a couple minutes of the day reading stories in the paper or a half hour on the internet and mark your calendar for an election. People looking to be more involved should contact the campaigns, offer financial support or by spreading the word about voting. By signing petitions and even hitting the streets to hand out leaflets or flashcards. Even if you end up doing it for just two or three ours for only one day, it's more than not doing anything at all. And it helps.