Solid Gains made in Tuesday’s Election In New York

From http://www.NYHealthVoters.com

11-10-22, 3:54pm

While it is disappointing for many that Governor Kathy Hochul (D) and Attorney General Leticia James (D) won on Tuesday, it isn’t surprising. The political reality in New York is that registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans more than 2 to 1. In the last fifty years there has been only one Republican Governor, the last Republican US Senator and Attorney General both left office 24 years ago. New York is a deep blue state. And for the time being, the Reds are much friendlier to our cause than the Blues. And despite the losses at the top of the ticket the Reds did pretty well in New York on Tuesday. 

The delegation to the US House of Representatives had a net gain of four friendly seats, all Republican, there is a definite gain of one seat in the State Senate, and a confirmed gain in the Assembly of four seats. Of course, not all races have been called yet. Three State Senate races are still unresolved along with four Assembly seats, so we probably won’t know the final count for several weeks. And more seats could be picked up. 

Gains in the House

The gains in the House are especially important. On the national front it is certain that the Republicans will get control of the US House of Representatives . If Gov. Hochul wants anything from Congress, and New York Governors always want something from Congress,  she will have to go through the newly empowered Republicans. While this does not directly affect our issues it will help to temper Hochul since she will be dependent on their good graces in a significant way. 

The new members of the House include several dedicated friends. George Santos (R), who won in the seat vacated by Rep. Tom Suozzi (D), is outspoken in his support of our goals. Mike Lawler (R), who defeated incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney (D), in the 17th District in Rockland and Westchester, is currently suing Gov. Hochul and the state over the outrageous quarantine camp regulations issued earlier this year. 

Gains in the Assembly

So far in the Assembly the Republicans picked up a net gain of 4 seats. Two members of the Assembly from South Brooklyn who voted to repeal the religious exemption from vaccine mandates were defeated Mathylde Frontus (D) who represents Coney Island lost to Alec Brook Krasny (R). Brook Krasny served in the Assembly  as a Democrat ten years ago where he was a reliable friend for vaccine rights and autism issues. He left to serve in the New York City Council, and now he is coming back to the Assembly as a Republican.

Peter Abbate (D), who represents Bensonhurst, also voted to kick our kids out of school, lost his seat in a tight race to Lester Chan (D). 

On Long Island, Steve Englebright (D) who voted to kick our kids out of school lost his seat in East Setauket to Edward Flood (R).

Gains in the State Senate

Fortunately, Sen. Anna Kaplan (D), an especially vicious enemy of ours went down to defeat in her Port Washington district to Jack Martins (Rep) Kaplan introduced bills calling for censorship of vaccine issues on social media, increasing penalties for possessing false vaccination documents, as well as kicking our kids out of school 

Patricia Canzoneri Fitzpatrick (Rep) won the open State Senate seat on the south shore of Nassau vacated by Todd Kaminsky when he resigned. Canzoneri Fitzpatrick received an endorsement from Newsday despite her “anti vaxx” views. 

Incumbent Elijah Reicklin Melnick (D), a vaccine injury denier, was defeated by Bill Weber (R) in Rockland County. 

We also lost friends. Steven Cymbrowitz (D), a longtime friend of ours on the Assembly Health Committee lost his seat representing Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. And Sen John Brooks (D)  of Massapequa lost his race with Nassau County Legislator Steven Rhoads (R). Rhoads is sympathetic to our issues. 

In undecided races, Brian Curran is a few hundred votes head of Rockville Centre Assemblymember Judy Griffin (D). Griffin joined the Assembly after defeating Curran in 2018. Griffin repeatedly told constituents that she would vote to protect the religious exemptions, she was even quoted in Newsday saying she would, but she ended up voting to repeal the exemption. 

Chris Sperber (R), a court officer who was fired for refusing the COVID injection, ran against Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D) who voted to repeal the religious exemption. Their race for the 11th Assembly district in Amityville is still too close to call. 

 Stacey Pheffer Amato (D) from Howard Beach, who has been a solid friend of our community, is in a race still too close to call. 

Monica Martinez (D) and Cindy Rodriguez (R) are in a race too close to call in the fourth State Senate District in Suffolk County. Martinez served in the Senate from 2018 to 2020 and introduced several bills seeking to protect exemption rights. Rodriguez has been outspoken in her support of our issues.  

Iwen Chen (D) and Vito LaBella (Rep) are in an undecided race in Brooklyn for the 17th State Senate Senate District. And the race between Sen. John Mannion (D) of Syracuse and Rebecca Shiroff  (Rep) will go to a recount. 

So while the sky-high hopes many people had were not reached, there were solid gains made, and perhaps more depending on the outcome of the unresolved races.