With more state senators leaving office, New York voters will see some new names on their ballots in November.
The reasons: Razor-thin results in some primary elections, retirements and a scandal. Those are creating a higher turnover than usual for the New York State Senate, say political scientist. This election at least four senators will not be returning to Albany and a fifth is still uncertain as of mid-September.
And that turnover could change which party controls the state senate, say political scientists. Now, Republicans hold 33 seats; Democrats have 29.
The Republicans “have a very small majority,” said Joseph Zimmerman, a political science professor at the University of Albany. It the GOP loses two seats of its returning 30 incumbents, he calculated, they would lose the majority. Said Zimmerman: “It could happen.”
The election is Nov. 6.
Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, has a Green Party challenger in Michael Donnelly of Syracuse for the newly drawn 50th State Senate District. But he will have no Democratic challenger this year. He expressed dismay at the prospect of Democrats regaining the Senate.
“If the Democrats were to take back the Senate, to me that would be a disaster,” DeFrancisco said.
Here’s a look at the Senate math:
- Of the Republicans, 2 state senators who broke with their party to vote for same-sex marriage suffered near losses in the Republican primaries. As of Sept. 25, one race is undecided.
- Two Republicans are retiring.
- One Democratic incumbent lost her primary after federal investigations.
- All 62 seats are up for election, as well as a 63rd added after redistricting this year.
In primary elections, a controversial vote in favor of same-sex marriage cost a Republican incumbent his seat. In the 43rd State Senate District, Roy J. McDonald, R-Stillwater, slipped behind Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione in a drawn-out battle in which votes were still being counted nearly two weeks after the primaries. He conceded the election to Marchione on Sept. 28 and announced he would not actively campaign as a third-party candidate.
McDonald’s name will still appear on the ballot as a candidate for the Independence Party ballot line. If he had decided to actively campaign, University of Albany political scientist Zimmerman said, it could have affected the outcome of the race in November.
“That could very well split the Republican vote and lead to a Democrat being elected,” Zimmerman said.
The Democratic challenger for the 43rd State Senate District is Robin Andrews, the Claverack town supervisor.
In the 41st State Senate District, incumbent Stephen M. Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, who also voted for the same-sex marriage bill, survived a primary challenge from conservative rival Neil A. DiCarlo by just 107 votes. In the Nov. 6 general election, Saland faces Democratic challenger Terry Gipson, a business owner in Rhinebeck.
Retirement has also meant that two more Republican incumbents are leaving. In the 55th State Senate District, the incumbent James Alesi, R-Rochester, announced his retirement in May. The statewide redistricting drew new boundaries for the district, which be fought over by Republican Sean T. Hanna of Mendon and Democrat Ted O’Brien of Irondequoit.
In the 4th State Senate District, incumbent Owen H. Johnson, R-Babylon, is retiring. That leaves Republican Philip Boyle of Bay Shore and Democrat Ricardo Montano of Brentwood to battle over the open seat.
Scandal in the 10th State Senate District cost state Sen. Shirley L. Huntley, D-Queens, her seat amid charges that she helped staffers direct state funds towards a nonprofit agency she had founded. The winner against Huntley was James Sanders Jr., a New York City councilman. He is running unopposed in November.
The statewide redistricting in giving Democrats and Republicans new territory to fight over, with the creation of the new 63rd State Senate District. It lies in a heavily Republican area of Erie County.
The new district will likely solidify conservative control in a historically Republican branch of the state legislature, political scientists say.
“The addition was made to help the Republicans maintain their narrow majority,” said Lisa Parshall, a political scientist specializing state and local government at Daemen College in Amherst.
(Durrie Lawrence is senior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and international relations.)
-30-
