Five Takeaways from Election Day
1. CUOMO’S VICTORY
Gov. Andrew Cuomo won re-election, but it was not the landslide some had expected earlier on in his first term. By several measures, in fact, his showing was remarkably poor: The 1.95 million votes cast for the governor were nearly a million fewer than he won four years ago. As The Buffalo News pointed out, it was the fewest votes won by a New York gubernatorial candidate since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1930, and Cuomo’s final tally was less than either Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (1.96 million votes) or Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (2.11 million) garnered in their respective re-election bids. On the plus side, even though Cuomo pledged to push for a Democratic majority in the state Senate, the fact that Republicans won control outright could pave the way for the governor to continue positioning himself as a fiscally conservative centrist. But when it comes to issues like the Women’s Equality Act, campaign finance reform and the DREAM Act, it is not clear how Cuomo will be able to get these measures passed—or whether he will try very hard to do so.
2. PARTY TIME
One quirk of New York elections is its third parties, and their ranks grew this year with the addition of the Women’s Equality Party, a creation of Cuomo’s, and the Stop Common Core line, which was launched by Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino. Voters also shook up the ranking of the third parties, which is based on the number of votes cast for them in the governor’s race. The Conservative Party, which backed Astorino, held onto Row C, while the Working Families Party was bumped down by the Green Party, which seized Row D behind the candidacy of Howie Hawkins, who won 5 percent of the vote. The Greens could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape for the next four years. Unlike most other third parties in New York State the party does not cross-endorse Democrats or Republicans, instead choosing to recruit and run its own candidates, and some observers wonder if it will take votes away from upstate Democrats in coming years. Also making the ballot was the ideologically flexible Independence Party, which ran Cuomo on its line.
3. THE REPUBLICAN SENATE
So much for the much ballyhooed plan to reunite the Senate Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) with their fellow Democrats in the state Senate. Despite a coalition including Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and a number of key labor unions that came together this summer to pledge to secure a Democratic majority, the Republicans were able to pick up a few battleground seats and fend off a number of challenges to win an outright majority. State Sen. Jeff Klein and his IDC, which shared power with the GOP over the past two years, is suddenly more expendable, although indications are that the partnership will continue on some level, albeit with less power for Klein. Republicans want to push for more tax cuts and less burdensome business regulations, while Democratic lawmakers—as well as de Blasio—will have a harder time getting progressive bills passed.
4. SEEING RED IN CONGRESS
The most riveting story line on a national scale was the transfer of power in the U.S. Senate, a shift that gives Republicans control of both houses of Congress. Democrats in the House took a hit too, and New York’s huge Democratic enrollment advantage didn’t shield it from the Republican landslide. Three GOP candidates—John Katko, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin—flipped seats that had been Democratic. Meanwhile, in what would easily have been the state’s biggest upset, Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter, who no one foresaw having troubles, eked past Republican Mark Assini by a mere 869 votes. Rep. Steve Israel of Long Island, who ran the congressional Democrats’ election efforts nationally, has already stepped aside as chair of the DCCC, although he had planned to do so before Election Day.
5. PROPOSITIONS PASS
Voters approved all three propositions on the ballot in New York. The most controversial was Proposition 1, which established a new redistricting process but divided good-government groups. Citizens Union supported the change, noting that it would bring outsiders into the process of drawing district lines and codify the criteria in state law, while Common Cause NY opposed the plan, arguing that those in the majority in the state Legislature will retain control over the maps despite a veneer of independence. Proposition 2 allows the state to pass legislation without physically printing bills. And the passage of Proposition 3, unveiled by Cuomo earlier this year, authorizes a $2 billion bond act to provide technology upgrades in schools.
