For Senate Democrats Thinking of Switching Parties, Cautionary Tales Abound
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:47:00
With both parties waiting breathlessly to see who will control the State Senate after the November election, particular attention is being paid to three Democrats-Pedro Espada and Ruben Diaz, Sr. of the Bronx and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn-to see where their loyalties will fall.
History offers them some warnings. Over the past decade, the three Democratic State Senators and one Assembly member who have switched parties or publicly sided with the Republicans were all subsequently defeated at the ballot box.
Nancy Larraine Hoffmann was first elected to the Senate to represent the Syracuse region in 1984. She served for 15 years before switching to the Republican Party.
Looking back, Hoffmann said her decision came after her efforts to reform the legislative process were stymied.
"I was very much a maverick within the Democratic Party," Hoffmann recalled, "and, obviously, then within the Republican Party."
In 2004, she overcame a challenge by a conservative activist in the primary for her adopted party line, only to lose to Democrat David Valesky by less than 1,000 votes.
Sometimes Democrats seek out the GOP, as Hoffmann did. Sometimes the GOP finds them. Stephen Kaufman, a Bronx Assembly member, ran for the State Senate seat left vacant by Republican Guy Velella in 2004. But because he received public support from Republican officials and financial support from Republican donors while serving in the Assembly, the Democratic Party endorsed Assembly Member Jeffrey Klein, who won the seat.
Kaufman, who tacked right while in the Assembly, ran on the Conservative and Independence party lines, but never dropped his Democratic registration.
"People paid the price when they switched parties," said Kaufman, now practicing as a personal injury lawyer.
Perhaps the most notable example of voters revolting against a legislator who switches parties was Olga Mendez in 2004.
After a quarter of a decade representing parts of East Harlem, Mendez changed her status to Republican. She explained her move by saying Democrats had done little to help her district. But in the general election, José Serrano defeated her by a wide margin in the heavily Democratic district.
This year, Republicans, desperate to keep control of the majority, have been reaching out to senators whose allegiances are in question. The night he defeated Sen. Efrain Gonzalez (D-Bronx) in the September primary, Pedro Espada received phone calls of congratulations from both Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) and Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens). In a later television interview, Espada would not say who he would vote for in the leadership vote.
Neither Espada nor Kruger, who last year accepted a committee chairmanship from the Republicans, returned requests for interviews on this topic.
Ironically, Espada was defeated by Diaz in 2002, in part because he began conferencing with Republicans. But this year, both Espada and Diaz are refusing to commit to vote for Smith. Diaz is on both the Democratic and Republican lines for the November elections, but was adamant about the future of his party affiliation.
"I would never switch parties," Diaz said. "I will always be a Democrat."
Diaz, like Kruger, is socially conservative, which has often put him at odds with the Democratic conference. He insisted he would not vote for anyone who let gay marriage go through the Senate.
With his son, Assembly Member Ruben Diaz, Jr., planning on running for Bronx borough president if New York City's current term limits law stays in place-and possibly if it does not-Diaz might be compelled to stay loyal to Democrats for the sake of his son's election.
But the lure of the majority party can be strong-especially when that majority party might be willing to hand out favors as it fights to stay in control.
State Sen. Joseph Robach (R-Monroe), who switched parties in 2002, has been targeted this year by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. Former State Sen. Richard Dollinger (D) said one element of his campaign strategy is educating voters about Robach's party switch.
"He jumped from the party of Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy into the party of George Bush," Dollinger said. "I've never understood it."
History offers them some warnings. Over the past decade, the three Democratic State Senators and one Assembly member who have switched parties or publicly sided with the Republicans were all subsequently defeated at the ballot box.
Nancy Larraine Hoffmann was first elected to the Senate to represent the Syracuse region in 1984. She served for 15 years before switching to the Republican Party.
Looking back, Hoffmann said her decision came after her efforts to reform the legislative process were stymied.
"I was very much a maverick within the Democratic Party," Hoffmann recalled, "and, obviously, then within the Republican Party."
In 2004, she overcame a challenge by a conservative activist in the primary for her adopted party line, only to lose to Democrat David Valesky by less than 1,000 votes.
Sometimes Democrats seek out the GOP, as Hoffmann did. Sometimes the GOP finds them. Stephen Kaufman, a Bronx Assembly member, ran for the State Senate seat left vacant by Republican Guy Velella in 2004. But because he received public support from Republican officials and financial support from Republican donors while serving in the Assembly, the Democratic Party endorsed Assembly Member Jeffrey Klein, who won the seat.
Kaufman, who tacked right while in the Assembly, ran on the Conservative and Independence party lines, but never dropped his Democratic registration.
"People paid the price when they switched parties," said Kaufman, now practicing as a personal injury lawyer.
Perhaps the most notable example of voters revolting against a legislator who switches parties was Olga Mendez in 2004.
After a quarter of a decade representing parts of East Harlem, Mendez changed her status to Republican. She explained her move by saying Democrats had done little to help her district. But in the general election, José Serrano defeated her by a wide margin in the heavily Democratic district.
This year, Republicans, desperate to keep control of the majority, have been reaching out to senators whose allegiances are in question. The night he defeated Sen. Efrain Gonzalez (D-Bronx) in the September primary, Pedro Espada received phone calls of congratulations from both Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) and Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens). In a later television interview, Espada would not say who he would vote for in the leadership vote.
Neither Espada nor Kruger, who last year accepted a committee chairmanship from the Republicans, returned requests for interviews on this topic.
Ironically, Espada was defeated by Diaz in 2002, in part because he began conferencing with Republicans. But this year, both Espada and Diaz are refusing to commit to vote for Smith. Diaz is on both the Democratic and Republican lines for the November elections, but was adamant about the future of his party affiliation.
"I would never switch parties," Diaz said. "I will always be a Democrat."
Diaz, like Kruger, is socially conservative, which has often put him at odds with the Democratic conference. He insisted he would not vote for anyone who let gay marriage go through the Senate.
With his son, Assembly Member Ruben Diaz, Jr., planning on running for Bronx borough president if New York City's current term limits law stays in place-and possibly if it does not-Diaz might be compelled to stay loyal to Democrats for the sake of his son's election.
But the lure of the majority party can be strong-especially when that majority party might be willing to hand out favors as it fights to stay in control.
State Sen. Joseph Robach (R-Monroe), who switched parties in 2002, has been targeted this year by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. Former State Sen. Richard Dollinger (D) said one element of his campaign strategy is educating voters about Robach's party switch.
"He jumped from the party of Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy into the party of George Bush," Dollinger said. "I've never understood it."
