Sunday, August 3, 2008

Lifelong ticket to ride the gravy train

With the presidential election the focus of so much attention, one could easily forget that all the members of the New York State Assembly and Senate also are up for election this fall. Most of the incumbents want their jobs back, and little seems to stand in their way. As in most years, few sitting members of the legislature face primary challenges, proving once again that, when it comes to elections in New York, nothing is left to chance.

In New York, Those in Power, Stay in Power

As of now, only 23 out of 65 Assembly seats and 11 of 35 State Senate seats in New York City are set to have a primary on Sept 9. This is the number of districts where more than one candidate has filed petitions seeking his or her party's nomination. The number will almost certainly shrink as candidates challenge one another's petitions. The Board of Elections is holding hearing on challenges this week, and inevitably some candidates won't make it through the process.

Previous reports and articles have highlighted how uncompetitive New York's elections are, with nearly all of the incumbents running being reelected to their seats. In many cases this year, incumbents will not face a primary challenger. Most of those who do are expected to beat their opponents rather handily.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

On the national stage, we frequently hear the reference to "swing states". States whose population is not in the bad for one party or the other.

So, at least during the campaign, and for many months leading up to the campaign, those states get the federal attention needed: highway and bridge upgrades, funds for schools, hospitals, etc.

But, here in New York State, and particularly in NY City, voters cheerfully go in the tank repeatedly for one candidate or party.

So, why bother with taxpayers who don't shop for the right candidate?

If the moronic voters are always in the tank, they can be blithely ignored, time and time again.

The reasons can be varied, but moronic, nonetheless: race, ethnicity, relationship to a union, religion. And on and on.

Why should any politician pay any attention to the needs and wishes of people who show no interest in themselves?

We get what we work for.

We deserve and get cheesy failures.

Anonymous said...

Taxpayer,

Can not be stated any better.


Yesterday a voter told me Obama was a Communist. I'm so dumb I voted for Hillary because I thought she was the Communist. Another voter told me Obama is a Moslim, and I was going to vote for him because I thought he was a Hindu. (For folks with no sense of humor - this is written in sarcasism)

Anonymous said...

Sorry,

Typo meant "Muslim"