The race in SD-11 is finally over. The current margin of 578 votes is too much to beat.
With all but 265 ballots fought over, counted and recounted, Republican Frank Padavan retains a 578-vote lead over his Democratic challenger, Councilman Jim Gennaro, according to a Queens GOP source who has been monitoring the situation.
That makes it arithmetically impossible for Gennaro to pull out a victory - even if those last remaining ballots all cut his way, which, of course, they wouldn't.
This was always going to be a tough race for Jim Gennaro, but he worked his tail off. Few people believed that it would ever be this close.
Well done, Mr Gennaro.
And congratulations, Senator Padavan. Hope you have a ball in the minority.
City Board of Elections commissioners voted unanimously today to reserve their December decision and allow disputed paper ballots to be counted in the yet-undecided 11th SD race, signaling the beginning of the end of what has been an extremely contentious and drawn-out process.
Depending on how long the count takes - and there have been conflicting reports as to exactly how many ballots are out there, but it's somewhere between 1,700 and 2,700 - this contest could be a contender for the title of longest-running undecided legislative race in modern history.
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Republican Frank Padavan, who was the incumbent GOP senator when this whole mess started, has a lead of several hundred votes - perhaps as many as 500 - over his Democratic challenger, Councilman Jim Gennaro.
Obsevers and operatives on both sides of the aisle have been more or less in agreement (at least privately) that Padavan is going to be declared the winner.
Much like now ex-Senator Serph Maltese was a top Dem target in 2008, should these numbers hold, expect much attention be paid to Padavan in 2010.
Just as we thought all the votes were counted everywhere when the MN Canvassing Board concluded its good work, this press release was received from the Jim Gennaro State Senate Campaign:
MEDIA ADVISORY
The State Supreme Court in Jamaica, Queens will hold a hearing to determine why the Board of Elections did not follow established rules in the ballot counting of the still-undecided race between then-incumbent Republican State Senator Frank Padavan and Democratic challenger James Gennaro.
The Jan. 16 hearing is expected to be attended by key Board of Elections personnel with, according to the court, "actual knowledge of the facts." Among those ordered to testify are Judith Stupp, the Republican Commissioner who is also on the Senate Republican payroll and considered to be one of the chief agents of Republican efforts to disenfranchise new, Democratic, student and minority voters in the recent battle for Queens' Senate District 11.
The unresolved State Senate contest between Senator Frank Padavan, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, James F. Gennaro, moves on Tuesday into a Queens courtroom, where nearly a dozen college students have been subpoenaed to verify their residences.
Republican lawyers have challenged the votes of students, mostly from St. John's University, saying that they filled out affidavit ballots with addresses that were not their permanent residences. In the paper ballot count, Mr. Padavan is leading by about 600 votes, but about 1,000 more ballots remained to be counted and the validity of an additional 2,000 must still be reviewed.
While the challenges and subpoenas have angered students, who are being forced to appear during exams, they underscore the high stakes attached to winning the Senate seat in Queens...
What makes this turn of events all the more ridiculous, is that college students can absolutely register and vote from their college addresses. Period. What a great way to treat those first time voters, right? Let's drag their asses into court during exams simply for exercising their right to vote.
Steven H. Richman, the general counsel at the New York City Board of Elections, said that under state law, a student can vote from a polling place near either his or her permanent address or a college address.
"A college student has the option," Mr. Richman said. "If you're living on campus, you have the right to register and vote from that district. Or you can register from your parents' address. You just can't vote in two places."
Democratic officials said they were incensed by the subpoenas. "It's outrageous that this is the lesson that Republicans want to teach young voters," said, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "They are teaching students that they can be dragged into court just for fulfilling their civic duty. It's absolutely outrageous."
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Cristina Fernandez, a student at St. John's, said by phone that it was more convenient to vote near the school. "Even though my parents live in Manhattan, I live right here in Queens and didn't see any reason to vote back in Manhattan when I could register to vote right here in the neighborhood," said Ms. Fernandez, a senior majoring in accounting.
"I was so excited to vote this year," she added. "But then I had some man showing up on my doorstep issuing me a subpoena because the Republicans are trying to challenge my vote. So, I have to go to court in the middle of finals, instead of studying. It makes you not want to vote ever again."
The recount in the SD-11 race continues and it's starting to get ugly. I've been hearing about these shenanigans for about a week now. Finally, the Times has a story describing the mess out in Forest Hills. Basically, the GOP is challenging the ballots of pretty much anyone with an Asian or Hispanic surname. Oh, and the whole process is being run by a woman on Dean Skelos' payroll. Really.
Democratic officials and lawyers have accused the Republicans of systematically challenging the ballots of voters with surnames that sound Asian or Hispanic, a charge that Republican officials deny. The charge is particularly stinging in a Senate district that, in the 2000 census, was nearly 25 percent Asian and 13 percent Hispanic.
"They are challenging ballots based on a technicality that had never been enforced in the past," said Michael H. Reich, the executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party and one of the lawyers overseeing the counting. "But they are only doing it to Democratic voters and voters with names that they assume are African-American, Latino or Asian. They're not doing it with voters they presume are white. I am outraged by this."
Specifically, Mr. Reich said that under a longstanding bipartisan practice, the votes of those who have filled out paper ballots have been counted, so long as they are listed as registered voters. The controversy centers on so-called affidavit ballots, in which voters attest to having moved into a district other than where they are registered. In some cases, the paper ballots failed to include the voter's prior address. In other cases, the voter neglected to check one of several boxes indicating a change of address. Those ballots have been deemed ineligible by the Republican officials.
In the past, Democrats claim, all such ballots were counted. But this time, they say, the Republican commissioner of the Board of Elections in Queens has ruled that ballots should be invalidated if they do not include the signature or stamp of a poll worker.
And just who is this Republican BoE Commissioner? That would be one Judith Stupp, director of downstate operations for the Senate GOP. Oh, and did I mention she's a Padavan donor?
That ruling brought a firestorm of criticism from Democratic officials and lawyers, who point out that the Republican commissioner, Judith Stupp, is also employed as the manager of downstate operations for New York State Senate Republicans. She is also a contributor to Mr. Padavan's campaign.
If this doesn't sound fishy, I don't know what would. Regardless, Stupp's crew is systematically challenging the ballots of Democrats with ethnic sounding surnames - these are all Padavan's constituents, mind you, the people he was elected to serve so many times - whilst seemingly ignoring those from folks who sound sufficiently white and Republican.
On a recent afternoon, over a period of several hours, a reporter observed that the Democratic lawyers objected to none of the ballots that came before the group. Meanwhile, the Republican lawyer, John Ciampoli, registered repeated objections, in several cases regarding voters with names that could be perceived as Hispanic or Asian.
Keep your eye on this one, folks. Liz is reporting that today's machine recount in the SD-11 race cut Frank Padavan's lead from 723 to just 502 votes. And there is still the matter of over 8,000 paper ballots yet to be counted:
Today's machine recount in the 11th SD is complete and GOP Sen. Frank Padavan's lead over Democratic Councilman Jim Gennaro has shrunk from an already-close 723 votes to 502.
There remain 8,300 paper ballots yet to be counted, a good number of which are likely to be disqualified, as is fairly standard.
Democratic political consultant Evan Stavisky, who worked on Gennaro's campaign, touted the fact that his candidate "closed the gap significantly," adding: "We're confident, and we always have been, that the paper ballot will put Jim over the top."
500 votes is not an insignificant hurdle to be overcome, but it is certainly doable. One thing is for certain though. If Gennaro pulls this off, he definitely won't be joining any "gangs" of petulant children with their hands out.
I was just reading Liz's post on the money trail during the New York State Senate battle and whether or not personal feelings played too strong of a role on both sides of the aisle and where the DSCC's and SRCC's money went.
On the Democratic side, the race in the 56th Senate District was one that Liz used to argue her point. The DSCC spent a lot of money on Rick Dollinger. As Liz pointed out, that race was seen as a competitive one because Dolliger is a former senator and he received key backing from Governor David Paterson, who served in the Senate with Dollinger.
But was it truly a waste? I don't think so. The results of the race show that Sen. Joe Robach only beat Dollinger by 4,889 votes. Percentage wise, that comes out to a 52-48 win for Robach. It wasn't nearly a double-digit blowout that Siena showed it to be and it wasn't a waste. There are a few other factors that come into play (like Robach's cowardly way of not telling people what party he is a member of) and in the end, Dollinger only lost by a rather small margin.
Then there is the Jim Gennaro and Frank Padavan race in SD-11. This one shocked the Republicans as Gennaro is within Padavan by 723 votes at last check. Gennaro outraised Padavan and the DSCC only invested over $4,000 in that race.
So were our priorities misplaced? As someone I talked to today said, even if we do end up losing Gennaro's seat, now we have a target for 2010. The same can or could be said for other seats, even Robach's. And as always, hindsight is 20-20. We can look back on it and now and say we should have spent more money and sent more resources there or here, but it won't do any good. Learn from our mistakes this time and make sure next time we compete in other areas.
I'm not satisfied with only two pickups. I was hoping for at least three and was really disappointed that SD-56 and/or SD-61 didn't go our way. We had great candidates in both but it didn't work out. That said, there was a time when I thought SD-11 was competitive but my opinion is only from afar. People on the ground there had other opinions and I'm sure, at the time, their opinions were quite valid. But it is hard to argue against that kind of enrollment advantage in that district. If Dollinger was targeted for, among other things, his district's enrollment advantage, Gennaro's should have been as well.
But again, 2010 looks just as good. And I think we can pick up more than two seats next time with the possibility of some special elections mixed in.
NARAL Pro-Choice New York is targeting Sen. Frank Padavan because of Padavan's bragging about New York State requiring insurance coverage of mammograms. The truth is that Padavan was actually one of ten senators in the New York State Senate to vote against it.
In what can only be called the pinnacle of hypocrisy, Senator Padavan uses his website to brag about New York State's law requiring insurance coverage of mammograms. How dare he promote this service when he was one of only ten extremist senators -- along with Serphin Maltese and Caesar Trunzo -- to vote against the law requiring it (Women's Health and Wellness, S765/ A11723, 2002)?
Says Kelli Conlin, President of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, "Mr. Padavan has been saying one thing in his district and doing another in Albany. In the final days of his campaign, he is misleading his constituents and orchestrating a candidate 'Extreme Makeover.' He's set up a bus to provide mammograms outside of his office but in Albany, he OPPOSED insurance coverage for breast cancer screening. This bus isn't a service; it's an election year smokescreen. Like they say in the 'Extreme Makeover, Home Edition' show: Frank Padavan, move that bus!"
NARAL Pro-Choice New York has endorsed Mr. Padavan's opponent, Councilman Jim Gennaro for State Senate.
Jim Gennaro is running against Padavan. Gennaro has run a solid campaign, but does have his hands full with Padavan.
As we enter the final days of the campaign for the state Senate, the TV ad wars are really beginning to heat up. Here's a few of the latest spots from two challengers and a freshman incumbent.
Jim Gennaro continues to bang on Padavan's atrocious record on women's health issues:
Darrel Aubertine is out with a great new biography type ad:
Governor Paterson announced his formal endorsement of Councilman Jim Gennaro yesterday. As Liz notes, it is the first official endorsement in any Senate race since he became governor.
GOVERNOR PATERSON ENDORSES JIM GENNARO FOR STATE SENATE
FLUSHING, NY (Sept. 29, 2008) Governor David A. Paterson today endorsed Democrat Jim Gennaro, who is battling 36-year incumbent Republican State Senator Frank Padavan in Northeast Queens' 11th District.
"In his seven years on the New York City Council, Jim Gennaro has established himself as one of the most effective legislators in New York City," Governor Paterson said. "He is a champion public servant who fights tenaciously for Northeast Queens on education, health care, tax relief and quality of life issues. On the issues of environmental protection and greener, more affordable energy, his record is unsurpassed. Jim's fearless, reform-minded independence are exactly what Albany needs, and I'm delighted to endorse his candidacy for the New York State Senate."
Councilman Gennaro said that the endorsement is a clear indicator of his campaign's momentum and that Governor Paterson is committed to ending the gridlock that Albany suffers by helping to elect legislators who promise to work hard and work together.
"I cannot be more proud today in receiving the endorsement of Governor Paterson, who has proven to be a successful steward for progress in Albany," Councilman Gennaro said. "By endorsing the Gennaro for New York campaign, Governor Paterson is sending a clear message that the way to fix government and make it more responsive to New Yorkers is by electing fresh new leaders who will fight for what's right for their constituents."
Here's a video of Gennaro making the case for his candidacy.
I spoke briefly with Councilman Jim Gennaro yesterday about his race against Senator Frank Padavan. I asked him about what is at stake in this year's election.
Smith and the candidates discussed why New York needs a change in the state senate. Republicans have ruled the upper house for over 40 years and the time for addressing the concerns of working families is now. The Republicans have not done this. The Democrats will strive to do this.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO: Pictured, from left, are: Jim Gennaro, Malcolm Smith, Joe Mesi at the podium, Hiram Monserrate and Joseph Addabbo. Dan Squadron is directly behind Mesi, although you can't completely see him.)
Here are some of the remarks from the candidates today. I know Phillip said he was hoping to go, so maybe he will have more for us later.
"Albany has lost touch with the needs of working people, and the state is struggling. We've got to get serious about the rising cost of living, unequal distribution of education aid, tax breaks for corporations which outsource jobs and drain the tax base, and a culture of out of control spending and pork barrel promises which has supplanted fiscal responsibility. How many more jobs must we loose until labor and small businesses get the support they need to succeed? How many more seniors should have to go bankrupt before their heath insurance finally kicks in? And how many more years do our kids need to suffer before the City sees the CFE money we were promised 13 years ago. Enough is enough. Albany is out of touch and time is up," said Councilman Joe Addabbo (SD-15).
"Right now, New Yorkers have an historic opportunity to change their day-to-day lives for the better by electing fresh new leadership to the State Senate," said Councilman Jim Gennaro (SD-11), who Chairs the Environmental Protection Committee in the City Council and has become recognized as one of the most prolific author of green legislation in the state. "I'm proud to be part of Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith's energetic and progressive slate of candidates as we run to bring better schools, better health care, better transportation, a more sustainable environment and a state budget that's more responsible and fair for all New Yorkers. The days of a dysfunctional, unresponsive state government promise to be over with our success in November."
Kristin McElroy (SD-6) said "I'm proud to be a Democratic candidate for State Senate this year, because the time has come for Albany to provide real leadership on the issues facing New York's families. Under the Republican majority, property taxes have skyrocketed and health care and energy costs have grown out of control. I look forward to serving on a State Senate led by a Democratic majority that will work with the Governor and the State Assembly to get New York moving in the right direction."
This is a great group of candidates we have statewide this year. We have some seats that are more competitive than others, but that doesn't mean a surprise (or two or three) can't be in the works. There are a few sleeper races that are on my mind that are winnable races this year.
New York needs leadership. They don't need the same lip service they have received from the Republicans for the last 40-plus years. It's time for a change. It's time for a Democratic New York State Senate.
ANALYSIS SD-11 - Rating changed to Leans Republican: The rating was altered after research into this district and Sen. Padavan. The enrollment advantage goes to the Democrats and Jim Gennaro can run a strong campaign. But there is a reason Padavan has won this district over and over again. Is he vulnerable? To some extent he is. It is a Democratic year in a predominantly Democratic district so he should worry. His incumbency isn't in total danger though.
SD-25 - Primary between Connor and Squadron: The winner of the general will be a Democrat. The question is which one? Will it be the veteran Connor? Or will it be the challenger Squadron, who is mounting a very serious challenge to Connor's incumbent.
SD-61 - Three way Democratic primary: This is another important primary because this seat could turn blue in November. Ratzenhofer is a Republican in a slightly Republican district, but this is not a safe seat for the GOP. A Democrat can win this seat. Now we just need to settle a three-way Democratic contest before moving forward.
Jim Gennaro decided to have his coming out party online. Today Gennaro posted a video on YouTube introducing himself to voters of the 11th Senate District.
Gennaro also has a Facebook page, which was announced in correlation with the video today.
Councilman Gennaro's online launch is bolstering an aggressive in-district ground operation, with a large pool of volunteers knocking on doors, handing out literature at busy community locations and events and calling voters in telephone banking operations. Councilman Gennaro, a tireless campaigner who first won his Council seat by running against party establishment, is meeting with voters at train and bus stops every weekday morning, knocking on voters' doors every evening and attending multiple community events every week.
"We are using every outreach method available to make our case to the voters of the 11th Senate District," Councilman Gennaro said. "With both the latest Internet technologies and good-old-fashioned retail politics on the streets of Queens, the outcome of this election promises to be a more engaged electorate and a victory for me on November 4."
The online and street campaigning is bolstering Councilman Gennaro's significant fundraising and enrollment edges against the incumbent he is challenging. In the most recent Board of Elections filing in July, Gennaro reported over $600,000 raised. The 11th Senate District, according to the Board of Elections, has about 82,000 Democrats, 31,000 Republicans and 34,000 unaffiliated voters.
Gennaro is taking on Sen. Frank Padavan, who will be a formidable opponent in SD-11 for Gennaro to challenge and defeat in November.
Smith and the candidates discussed why New York needs a change in the state senate. Republicans have ruled the upper house for over 40 years and the time for addressing the concerns of working families is now. The Republicans have not done this. The Democrats will strive to do this.
