New York State Capitol Building, Albany NY
When I was a member of the State Assembly (1975-’82,) I served with long-time State Senator from Bemus Point, Jess Present. What I quickly found out is that, in Albany, being in the majority party in the legislature makes a huge difference.
Since Jess (a Republican) was in the majority in the State Senate and I was (a Democrat) in the majority in the Assembly–we could get a lot of legislation passed. Being in the majority also meant that we had significant input into the annual state budget, including funding of items important to our districts in the Southern Tier. Despite our political differences, Jess and I maintained a strong personal friendship.
Until now, the Southern Tier West counties of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany have nearly always had at least one representative in the legislature in the majority party. For most of our recent history, Senator Cathy Young has been that person. That meant we had a meaningful say in the state budget and in legislation coming from Albany.
However, the situation in the state legislature significantly changed on the evening of November 6, 2018. Though Senator Young is well-liked and easily won re-election here, the Republicans lost the State Senate majority… and they lost it big. The Republicans went from having 31 State Senators to now having 23. Had the loss been less severe, they could have retained some hope of retaking the majority in 2020. However, in my view, because of the immensity of their loss… they will probably not regain the majority in the State Senate, especially since there will be reapportionment after the 2020 census.
In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by two to one, the Assembly already has a Democratic super-majority and the state Senate is now close to that. That means that New York will slide into the category of states like Massachusetts and California where the Republican Party has generally become noncompetitive on the state level and is now the permanent minority party.
If one were to base the election of 2018 on results from Chautauqua County, it would have been a banner year for Republicans. Not only did we overwhelmingly re-elect our Republican Assemblyman, State Senator and Congressman — the GOP candidate for Sheriff was also elected and now Republicans hold all county-wide offices (except for DA) and have a commanding majority in the county legislature.
Though the GOP remains strong around here, it has almost become irrelevant in some of the more urban areas of the state.
However, New York is a very diverse state and the further east you went this year, the weaker the Republican Party became. On Long Island, which was represented by seven Republican state Senators–after November 6 there were only three left. Though the GOP remains strong around here, it has almost become irrelevant in some of the more urban areas of the state. It also seemed rather odd to me that the remaining Republican state Senators chose John Flanagan of Long Island, whose party was crushed in the suburbs around New York, for minority leader over Cathy Young from Upstate where the GOP did quite well and still maintains a strong political base.
Of course, our concern out here in the “forgotten corner” of New York, is how do we now retain effective representation in Albany when both our Assemblyman and State Senator are in the minority and will likely remain so? It won’t be easy. Yet, it is something very real and a matter to which we should pay attention. A new era in the state Legislature has begun.
Rolland Kidder
This article first appeared in The Post-Journal on December 12, 2018
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