I'm sure this is my Oregon-bred naiveity speaking, but I've been doing some research on voter registration totals in New York State and I'm really perplexed by two districts in particular who have Republican Representatives. And it's not like these districts are marginally Democratic, they are solidly blue on the voter rolls.
Quick Definitions:
- Right Leaning Parties: Republican, Independence, Conservative, and Right to Life
- Left Leaning Parties: Democratic, Working Families, Liberal and Green
NY-13 - Vito Fossella (R)
Right leaning parties:
115,530
Left leaning parties:
161,231
Independents:
66,131
Yeah, yeah, I know, it's Staten Island, but my year and a half of living in Manhattan hasn't instilled the stereotypes that deeply yet. Vito, while looking rather dashing from his pic on vote-smart.org, doesn't really have that great of a standing with interest groups I support (sorry, not enough time to search specific votes) and is really highly regarded by the business community. I mean the guy has a 7% rating from the ACLU and a 17% rating from the NAACP. It also seems the Delay vice-grip is clamping down on Fossella as his percent of party support has increased steadily from 89% to 94% from '99 to '02.
How is it with a lead of 45,000 voters, the D's can't find a solid candidate to run. In '02 Vito outspent his "challenger" 900,000 to 6,000. How is that possible and yet the D still got 28% of the vote!
Now here's my reach. It's an upstate district that includes Buffalo. I'm guessing the huge number of D's is a remnant of the FDR days, but I could be very wrong.
NY-27 - Jack Quinn
Right Leaning Parties:
150,431
Left Leaning Parties:
209,974
Independents:
72,803
Maybe NYCO can give me an assist here since I know zero about the upstate dynamic (really I don't know anything outside of the Hudson, East and Harlem River borders in NY), but this is a pretty crushing lead in the voter rolls. 60,000 votes seems like something that would take a ton to overcome, but the D's don't seem to put up any credible opposition. In '02, they were outspent 772K to 38K. That, once again, is ubsurd. Yet still the D took 28% of the vote, mostly due to party loyalty would be my guess.
Mr Quinn, is a bit more moderate in his stances, but like Mr Fossella the Delay Fist has increased his party-line votes from 74% to 84% from '99 to '02 in a steady progression upwards.
Like I said, am naive, but these races seem like ideal spots for moderate Democrats (yeah, yeah) running on economic issues. Why is it that the party doesn't recruit solid candidates for these districts? Can anyone out there offer some input?
