For their junior senator’s seat, New York voters have incumbent Democrat Kristen Gillibrand against Republican challenger Joe DioGuardi on the November ballot.
Gillibrand and DioGuardi won their parties’ primaries on Sept. 14. In the Democratic Primary, Gillibrand beat challenger Gail Goode, a lawyer for the city of New York. Gillibrand received 410,147 votes in comparison to Goode’s 130,179 votes.
In the Republican Primary, DioGuardi, a former congressman, beat out challengers David Malpass, an economist, and Bruce Blakeman, an ex-Port Authority Commissioner. DioGuardi received 169,255 votes, while Malpass trailed with 152,600, and Blakeman with 84,290.
The general election is Nov. 2.
Voter enrollment gives Democrats a big lead in New York politics, said Jeff Stonecash, a professor of political science at Syracuse University.
“A Republican running in a senate race has a real uphill battle, given the fact that the Republican Party has been experiencing a long-term slide with party enrollment over the past 50 years,” he said. He added, “The only thing that might bring a Republican a greater percentage of the votes is the current anti-Democratic sentiment, but I don’t know if that’s enough.”
In the money race, Gillibrand is far ahead with $11.2 million on hand, while DioGaurdi, trails with $1.5 million, according to the Federal Election Commission.
But money is not always the deciding factor, said Kristi Andersen, an SU political scientist. “I don’t think it’s always an absolute nail-down of a race to have more money,” Andersen said. But she predicts that Gillibrand will win. “I think it will be hard for the Republicans to generate a lot of enthusiasm and money,” Andersen said.
Here are the thumbnail sketches of the candidates for the junior senator’s seat:
Kirsten Gillibrand (incumbent, Democrat)
In January 2009, Gillibrand was appointed by Gov. David Paterson to fill the junior senate seat, when then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gave up the seat to become Secretary of State. Gillibrand was the representative from the 20th Congressional District in mostly rural eastern New York from 2007 to 2009.
Gillibrand is an Upstate New York native who lives in Hudson with her husband and two sons.
For Gillibrand’s campaign, the key issue is the economy, her campaign spokesperson, Glenn Kaplan said. “People are still struggling in this economy and her focus is going to be on her ideas on how to turn this around, and how to help middle-class families and small business who are struggling,” Kaplan said.
Joe DioGuardi (challenger, Republican)
Republican Joe DioGuardi is also endorsed by the Conservative Party. He is a certified public accountant from Ossining, where he lives with his wife. Like Gillibrand, he is a former representative of the 20th Congressional District. He held the seat from 1985 to1989.
On campaign fundraising, Tom Kise, spokesperson for DioGuardi’s campaign expressed confidence about closing the gap with Gillibrand. “The campaign is still early,” Kise said. “We’re fully confident that we’re going to raise the funds necessary to not only be competitive but to win this race in November.”
DioGuardi’s economic focus, said Kise, will be “jobs, jobs, jobs.”
(Lauren Malinowski is a graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism.)
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