SD-11, SD-56: Misplaced Priorities?

by: robert.harding

Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 16:17:04 PM EST

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.

DSCC Responds To Mysterious Robocalls Targeting Sen. Malcolm Smith

by: robert.harding

Sun Oct 19, 2008 at 19:38:26 PM EDT

Today, the DSCC issued this statement about the robocalls that no doubt are connected to the Republicans and their efforts to remain in the majority.

"The Republicans dirty tricks are not surprising. They've been as good for education as Bush has been for the economy. That's the only way they can win after supporting Bush and running New York into the highest debt in history. While Democrats protected your child's education funding, Republicans protected their special interest friends. This new lie proves it's time for a change."

This is a dirty trick for many reasons. For starters, the people who have told me that they have received these calls all say that the call does not say where it is originating from. It's pretty obvious that it is the Republicans, considering the timing of these calls correspond with an exchange between Sen. Smith and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. When Sen. Smith said that nothing was off the table - a reference to possible spending cuts because of budget problems - Skelos responded that Smith wanted school aid cuts.

The irony here is that Skelos and his Republican Senate has supported the property tax cap, which has many educators worried that the property tax cap will hurt funding for schools. Don't take my word for it. Listen to Karen Scharff.

Of course, if you were going to mislead citizens in targeted Republican districts, you could at least say that it is you (the GOP) calling these people so that they aren't left wondering who is calling them. This was a dirty trick and it is a dirty trick we have come to expect from the Republicans here in New York.

ON THE WEB:

New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee's ActBlue Page

Democratic And Republican New York State Senate Priorities At A Glance

by: robert.harding

Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 17:24:04 PM EDT

On the Democratic side, the three big ones are SD-3 (Brian Foley), SD-15 (Joseph Addabbo) and SD-56 (Rick Dollinger). These seats should go without saying. In SD-15, Republican Serph Maltese narrowly won in 2006 and is vulnerable this year. Here in upstate New York, Dollinger is presenting a serious challenge to Sen. Joe Robach. Robach hasn't received the same love from the SRCC that Dollinger has received from the DSCC. Meanwhile, SD-3 is interesting. Foley is getting plenty of money and support from the DSCC and Republican Sen. Caesar Trunzo is getting backing from the SRCC. Trunzo will need it since he has apparently entered his cave for the winter.

The top target for the SRCC is Maltese, who they have invested a lot of money in hoping he keeps that seat.

The second biggest target for the SRCC? One would think either Trunzo or Robach, right? After all, their counterparts with the DSCC have invested a lot of money in SD-3 and SD-56. But neither are their second biggest target.

Actually, Barbara Donno in SD-7 (Republican challenger to Sen. Craig Johnson) is. The Republicans have spent over $142,000 on Donno, which is remarkable considering she is, at best, a long shot to Sen. Johnson. The reason for this is Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his personal issues with Sen. Johnson. I think the Republicans are crying because Sen. Johnson broke up their nine seat stranglehold out on Long Island. By January, that should be down to seven seats.

The SRCC has also invested in SD-35 (Republican John Murtagh is running against Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins) and in SD-48 (Republican David Renzi is going up against Sen. Darrel Aubertine).

There are a couple things that surprise me with the recent filings:

- The lack of money invested in Robach. I would think that they would want to keep this seat that has such a high Democratic enrollment with a candidate that has been able to win there multiple times now. Maybe they will invest more in Robach come October, but the fact they are investing more in races they can't win (SD-7) should raise some questions about what the Republican strategy is for November. Do they really think they are going to keep the majority? It sure seems that way. Of course, these are the same people saying McCain is close in New York.

- The money invested by the SRCC in SD-43 and no money being invested by the DSCC there. The GOP is investing a lot (over $84,000) to keep Bruno's old district red. Are they really worried about keeping this seat or what? It's a Republican district with a Republican assemblyman as the candidate. That's not to take away anything from Mike Russo. If the DSCC can give a modest amount of money to challengers like Kathy Konst, they should be giving up some cash to Russo in SD-43. That seat seems to be one that the Republicans are afraid to lose and the Democrats aren't interested in winning.

I will have more about these filings in my power rankings tomorrow.