Labor Day has passed, so it’s on to the final sprint to Election Day, November 8th. The level of drama is somewhat subdued. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets: The losing candidate in the recent Republican primary for Congress in NY23 is concerned about “statistical irregularities” in the vote results and is contemplating a lawsuit. The winning side, of course, says they “have the utmost faith in the commissioners of the Board of Elections…” (There is no reason to doubt that.) Neither of the candidates, however, has had a word to say about the allegations of fraud involving some…
Author: Ken Kruly
Full disclosure after eating crow. Boy, was I ever wrong about the results in the NY23 Republican primary. I thought that MAGA bombast would trump political organization. There is some small consolation in knowing that a whole lot of other political participants and observers also got it wrong. It was close, but our projections were way off. My long-time friend Len Lenihan got it right. He told me three weeks ago that Nick Langworthy’s organizational skills and support from other party leaders would lead to a win. Pollster Barry Zeplowitz nailed it with the poll he published a couple weeks…
The excitement of the local political scene just keeps on rolling. And the fun will not stop on the day of the congressional primary, August 23rd. As a non-Republican/Conservative observer, hopefully I can be forgiven for enjoying the entertainment value of two major powerhouses battling it out over the Republican congressional nomination. The combatants, Carl Paladino and Nick Langworthy, we are told, were once and recently friends and allies in the Trump cause. Political ambition can do that to folks. While mostly avoiding being seen by the general public, Paladino is hoping that his previous incendiary comments will not do…
The year 2021 was a year of transition in New York State government and lobbying activities. By the early months of 2022 some signs of normalcy returned. That is reflected in the amount of lobbying activity. Total statewide spending on lobbying activities through May 2022 was up $24.1 million or 9.2 percent from the previous year. The 2021 total is down just one percent from pre-pandemic 2019. In the 2021 reporting year, through May 2022, a total of $292.2 million was spent on lobbying work in the state The most recent report, for the year 2021, was published by JCOPE…
Thanks to that obscure State Supreme Court Judge in Bath, we are getting ready for August 23rd congressional and state Senate primaries. You will be reminded about that whenever you turn on the TV. It appears that Carl Paladino is spending a lot more than Nick Langworthy on TV at the moment, mostly because he has a lot more personal money to spend. In a previous post I noted that much of the TV money is wasted since it is mostly being seen by people who are not Republican, or do not live in the new 23rd district. A recent flair-up between…
In the middle of a very hot summer, the Bills’ training camp opened this week. You can almost feel the fall air. I’m not going to get into what defensive end is on the bubble or which receiver does not have much of a chance to make the roster. The Buffalo News sports department has been in overdrive with that sort of stuff for weeks now. What’s really fascinating for most Bills fans is the heady feeling that something really good might be happening this year. Years of wide-right, no-goal (ok, that was a hockey game), Tennessee miracle, and 13 seconds have…
The August 23rd congressional and state Senate primaries are just five weeks away. The general election has 11 weeks to go. We now have some data points to assess where the candidates are positioned. The Hochul/Delgado versus Zeldin/Esposito race is set. The Working Families Party has nominated Hochul and Delgado. The Conservative line will be occupied by Zeldin and Esposito. There will also be candidates for governor and lieutenant governor on the ballot who qualified via independent petitions. The independent candidates will not be elected in November, but they are competing for a consolation prize: if they can reach the required…
A great deal of wasted time and energy was exercised in New York this year in the creation of new legislative districts following the federal census. A constitutionally appointed Independent Redistricting Commission spent time and money drawing Democratic and Republican versions of maps for congressional and state legislative districts that were never used. The doomed-to-fail effort led the State Legislature to draw their own lines, only to have them struck down by state courts. The court that originally heard the case appointed a “Special Master” who spent more time and money drawing up congressional and state Senate districts. The same…
The New York primaries, round one, are over. The results played out pretty much as anticipated. On to the congressional and state Senate primaries on August 23rd. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets concerning federal, state, and local politics and government: The January 6th Special Committee hearings have become riveting story. Republicans who held major positions in the White House and in the Trump campaign have come forward to confirm that Trump’s claims of election fraud were fiction. The lack of Republican voices still in support of his Big Lie is deafening.Not to be undone, the Republican-dominated Supreme Court has…
Early voting is complete. Polling places are open as this post is published. We should be able to determine most of the winners before the evening is done. This post is intended to provide some historic context for the numbers will we soon see. Party registrations – 2022 Per state Board of Elections data released in February 2022, here are the numbers for party registrations, broken down by Erie County; upstate (defined here as everything north of Westchester County except Erie County); New York City; and the City’s suburbs: Democrats Republicans Erie County 305,391 162,443Upstate 1,490,439 1,385,576New York…