Who's a Dean Skelos Republican?
Not any of the GOP State Senate hopefuls-at least openly
Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:19:00
WHEN LARCHMONT MAYOR Liz Feld (R) campaigns against State Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Westchester), Feld cites her reform credentials and record of bipartisanship.
Though Feld, who was elected mayor on a coalition ticket with two Democrats, is running as a Republican, her criticism of Albany's dysfunction hits both parties.
"I've said many times that one party did not get into the mess and one party does not have all the solutions," she said.
In the neighboring senate district represented by Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), Yonkers Council Member John Murtagh uses examples from his career as a local legislator to show voters how he works with the Democratic majority in the seven-member Council.
With his one-seat majority endangered by strong challenges to several incumbents in November, to stay Senate majority leader, Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) may have to rely on the votes of the same GOP candidates who are doing just about everything possible to run from the Republican brand.
Democrats dealt with a similar situation in June when State Sen. Kevin Parker
(D-Brooklyn) accused his challenger, City Council Member Simcha Felder, of being a Republican plant who would vote for Skelos as majority leader. In response, Felder insisted, "I'm a Malcolm Smith Democrat."
Murtagh and Feld balked at making similar pledges.
"I'm no Dean Skelos Republican," Feld said. "I don't take marching orders from anybody."
"You're not going to find John Murtagh marching in lockstep with anybody," Murtagh said.
Veteran GOP senators like Serphin Maltese (Queens) openly embrace the Republican Party and Dean Skelos. But the incumbents could hardly do otherwise, after just electing Skelos majority leader in June.
Those not already in the conference, however, remain, like Feld and Murtagh, more circumspect. In the race to succeed retiring State Sen. Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie/Genesee), GOP candidate Mike Ranzenhofer makes few mentions that he is a Republican. Instead, his campaign message focuses on the dysfunction of Albany.
In the two districts that were until recent special elections represented by Republicans, candidates Barbara Donno and David Renzi target politicians and the Albany establishment in their campaigns.
Donno, a small-town mayor running against State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Nassau), reminds visitors to her website that she is "not your typical politician."
In an ad for Watertown attorney David Renzi, who is challenging State Sen. Darrel Aubertine (D-Jefferson/Oswego/St. Lawrence), that "party infighting" is making Albany a mess.
The anti-establishment rhetoric, however, did not impede party support of these candidates. According to the state's Board of Elections, the state's Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC) sunk around $150,000 into the campaigns of Feld, Murtagh and Donno. Renzi received $70,000.
Despite the voiced distaste for partisan labels, Feld and Murtagh say they respect the majority leader's agenda for his conference, especially on the property tax cap and spending cuts-two issues that Gov. David Paterson (D) supported as well.
Former State Sen. Raymond Meier, who has been discussed as a possible future state GOP chair, said candidates eschewing party labels are "the first cracks in the foundation of the old Albany."
He called them proof that Republicans are learning to campaign without favoring special interests and being more "forthright on the property tax cap and fiscal restraint" than to build up endorsements from unions and special interest groups. He said that boded well for what might happen if and when they return to Albany in the majority after November.
"Dean has made it clear," Meier said, "these are issues the Republican conference needs to embrace."
If not, he warned that the party will experience more losses to candidates like Aubertine, who supported the property tax cap-which cost him the teachers and public employee unions-but nonetheless prevailed in the Republican district, narrowing the margin of majority to its current level.
"That's a cautionary tale for my party," Meier said.
Though Feld, who was elected mayor on a coalition ticket with two Democrats, is running as a Republican, her criticism of Albany's dysfunction hits both parties.
"I've said many times that one party did not get into the mess and one party does not have all the solutions," she said.
In the neighboring senate district represented by Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), Yonkers Council Member John Murtagh uses examples from his career as a local legislator to show voters how he works with the Democratic majority in the seven-member Council.
With his one-seat majority endangered by strong challenges to several incumbents in November, to stay Senate majority leader, Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) may have to rely on the votes of the same GOP candidates who are doing just about everything possible to run from the Republican brand.Democrats dealt with a similar situation in June when State Sen. Kevin Parker
(D-Brooklyn) accused his challenger, City Council Member Simcha Felder, of being a Republican plant who would vote for Skelos as majority leader. In response, Felder insisted, "I'm a Malcolm Smith Democrat."
Murtagh and Feld balked at making similar pledges.
"I'm no Dean Skelos Republican," Feld said. "I don't take marching orders from anybody."
"You're not going to find John Murtagh marching in lockstep with anybody," Murtagh said.
Veteran GOP senators like Serphin Maltese (Queens) openly embrace the Republican Party and Dean Skelos. But the incumbents could hardly do otherwise, after just electing Skelos majority leader in June.
Those not already in the conference, however, remain, like Feld and Murtagh, more circumspect. In the race to succeed retiring State Sen. Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie/Genesee), GOP candidate Mike Ranzenhofer makes few mentions that he is a Republican. Instead, his campaign message focuses on the dysfunction of Albany.
In the two districts that were until recent special elections represented by Republicans, candidates Barbara Donno and David Renzi target politicians and the Albany establishment in their campaigns.
Donno, a small-town mayor running against State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Nassau), reminds visitors to her website that she is "not your typical politician."
In an ad for Watertown attorney David Renzi, who is challenging State Sen. Darrel Aubertine (D-Jefferson/Oswego/St. Lawrence), that "party infighting" is making Albany a mess.
The anti-establishment rhetoric, however, did not impede party support of these candidates. According to the state's Board of Elections, the state's Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC) sunk around $150,000 into the campaigns of Feld, Murtagh and Donno. Renzi received $70,000.
Despite the voiced distaste for partisan labels, Feld and Murtagh say they respect the majority leader's agenda for his conference, especially on the property tax cap and spending cuts-two issues that Gov. David Paterson (D) supported as well.
Former State Sen. Raymond Meier, who has been discussed as a possible future state GOP chair, said candidates eschewing party labels are "the first cracks in the foundation of the old Albany."
He called them proof that Republicans are learning to campaign without favoring special interests and being more "forthright on the property tax cap and fiscal restraint" than to build up endorsements from unions and special interest groups. He said that boded well for what might happen if and when they return to Albany in the majority after November.
"Dean has made it clear," Meier said, "these are issues the Republican conference needs to embrace."
If not, he warned that the party will experience more losses to candidates like Aubertine, who supported the property tax cap-which cost him the teachers and public employee unions-but nonetheless prevailed in the Republican district, narrowing the margin of majority to its current level.
"That's a cautionary tale for my party," Meier said.
