News

-A A +A

Cuomo To Fundraise For Democratic Senate Hopeful Gaughran

Jun
4
2018

Gov. Andrew Cuomo this month will appear at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senate candidate running for a Long Island seat held by Republican Sen. Carl Marcellino.
gaughran

Cuomo will appear as a special guest at the June 15 fundraiser for Democrat Jim Gaughran, with contributions ranging from $250 to $10,000.

An email from the campaign took note of the recent 31-31 deadlock in the state Senate that has stifled the progress of legislation in the chamber — a development that has both Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers at one another.

“The Republican Majority last week showed us just how dysfunctional the State Senate has become,” the email from the Gaughran campaign stated. “For two days in a row,...| read more ››

Hundreds again voice opposition to proposed tunnel across Sound

May
10
2018

Two weeks after hundreds of people attended a forum in Bayville against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s proposed tunnel across Long Island Sound, hundreds more gathered Wednesday night in Locust Valley to organize against the plan.

“I don’t want this destroying Long Island,” said Mark Lizza, 59, of Oyster Bay hamlet, whose father helped fight earlier proposals to build a bridge across the Sound. “I don’t want the pollution. I don’t want the traffic. I like Long Island the way it is.”

Cuomo is promoting a tunnel between Long Island and Westchester County as an economic boon. But opponents fear multistory ventilation shafts along the coast spewing exhaust into the air, greater traffic congestion, environmental damage and higher taxes to fund...| read more ››

Rich Schaffer presses for Senate Democratic takeover

May
5
2018

When Democrat James Gaughran holds his first fundraiser Thursday in his bid to unseat veteran Republican State Sen. Carl Marcellino, Suffolk Democratic chairman Rich Schaffer will headline the $250-a-head event.

Schaffer said he also would host a fundraiser in July for freshman Sen. John Brooks, who won a major upset two years ago. Schaffer played little part in that race, even though the most Democratic part of Brooks’ district is in Schaffer’s hometown of Babylon.

It’s a significant change for Schaffer, who in the past often has put up little or no opposition to Senate Republicans.

But Schaffer said this year he backed the effort to take over the Senate because of a growing exodus of GOP senators and a...| read more ››

Dems hopeful that special elections are harbinger of future

Apr
25
2018

ALBANY - Democrats in the state Senate, buoyed by the results in Tuesday's special election — including a decisive win in Westchester County — said they remain confident about their chances to gain control of the chamber in the November elections.

Their chest thumping came as state Sen. Kathy Marchione, R-Halfmoon, told the Saratoga County GOP Committee on Wednesday night that she would step down at the end of the year and will not seek another term.

Marchione was elected to the state Senate in 2012 and previously served as Saratoga County clerk and Halfmoon town supervisor. Her abrupt exit will set off a scramble by Republicans to find a new candidate for the Senate district that includes Columbia and...| read more ››

DAILY POINT: A special set of special elections

Apr
25
2018

New York State Republicans who fear a blue wave in November found new reasons to worry in the results of Tuesday’s special elections.

Let’s start in the 10th Assembly District in Huntington, where former Suffolk County lawmaker Steve Stern, a Democrat, defeated Republican attorney Janet Smitelli by 18 percentage points. This is a district that has been in GOP hands for 40 years. It most recently was represented by Chad Lupinacci, who easily won his last two elections for the Assembly, and then led a GOP takeover of town hall in November by winning the supervisor’s race.

Some context: Stern had more name recognition than Smitelli after 12 years in the county legislature. And his work as an elder care...| read more ››

Cuomo rallies Suffolk Dems to retake state Senate, Congress

Apr
8
2018

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday rallied Suffolk Democrats to retake the state Senate and defeat Republican members of Congress, highlighting his administration’s progressive record against Republican policies coming out of Washington.

Facing a Democratic primary against actress Cynthia Nixon, Cuomo railed against President Donald Trump and a Republican Party that he said had been taken over by “extreme conservatives” on immigration, the environment and anti-union rules.

“This is a much different election. It’s not really an election, it’s a defining moment for our nation,” Cuomo said to a packed room of elected officials, political activists and union members at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1049 in Holtsville.

It was his first Long Island campaign stop of the...| read more ››

LI Nine facing new challenges as Dems seek control of Senate

Apr
7
2018

They were once known as the Long Island Nine — a solid all-Republican bloc of state senators from Nassau and Suffolk that held tremendous clout for decades on issues from school aid to road construction.

“Years ago, getting a red [Senate] seat in Albany was a mark of prestige for Republicans,” said Desmond Ryan, longtime business lobbyist. “Having a chair in Albany was better than being a congressman. . . . Now it’s all changed. This could be their last hurrah.”

In the last three years, the Long Island Nine has become the not-so-solid seven with the conviction of ex-GOP Senate Majority leader Dean Skelos on federal corruption charges and the election loss of freshman Sen. Michael Venditto after federal...| read more ››

The Point: About those special elections

Apr
4
2018

The deal also intensifies the focus on the April 24 special elections, which include two Senate seats.

Democratic Assemb. Luis Sepúlveda is heavily favored to win the Bronx seat vacated by Rubén Díaz Sr., who won election to the New York City Council.

The other race, for the Westchester seat vacated by Democrat George Latimer, now the Westchester County executive, is considered more competitive. But Democrats expect that Assemb. Shelley Mayer will prevail against Republican Julie Killian.

Two Democratic victories would produce a 31-31 tie in the Senate — plus Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who caucuses with Republicans. And that would set the stage for a more-interesting-than-usual final two months of the legislative session.

A whole bunch of issues...| read more ››

Cuomo Ready to Stump for Long Island Democrats

Apr
2
2018

Gov. Cuomo is hitting the hustings.

With passage of the state budget behind him, Cuomo will attend a “Blue Wave” rally in Holtsville, Suffolk County on Sunday to help elect Long Island Democrats to the state Senate and Congress, according to a state Democratic Party invite.

Cuomo, who faces a Democratic primary from Cynthia Nixon, will have an opportunity to promote his own bid for a third term as well at the 2 p.m. event being held at IBEW Local 1049.

“Join Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New York State Democrats for a 2018 Blue Wave Rally on Long Island,” the “Long Island Kick-Off Rally” invite put out by the New York State Democrat Party said.

“This is an important...| read more ››

Jim Gaughran Announces Bid For State Senate

Mar
1
2018
Suffolk County Water Authority chairman Jim Gaughran of Northport is taking a second shot at the state Senate seat currently held by Carl Marcellino. Gaughran, 61, a former Huntington councilman and Suffolk legislator, this week formed a campaign committee and kicked off what could be a rematch of a race he narrowly lost two years ago. Gaughran and Marcellino squared off two years ago in a race that went to a recount. Marcellino, a Republican who has held the seat for 23 years, won by 1,781 votes, a 1-percent margin. Gaughran, a late entrant into the 2016 campaign, is hoping an earlier start, the negative impacts of recently-passed tax reforms on Long Island, and old-fashioned shoe leather will help him...| read more ››

Pages