Voting Reminder

[Doc]

Well, I guess I am left out of this part of the election process. Being registered Conservative, I am not eligible to participate.

[mike rossi]

Sheesh! I just wanted everyone to know there was voting going on today.

 

You bet, and you wanted everyone to know about the special elections as well. 

[mike rossi]

NY Dove Hunting Special Election Summary, April 19, 2016

State Senate - DISTRICT 9 - Special  Election

CANDIDATES                                  PARTY                    VOTE                         PCT.                             

Todd Kaminsky                                   Democrat               24,721                      53.3%                     

Christopher McGrath                          Republican             21,149                      45.6                              

Laurence Hirsch                                 Green                      547                              1.2         Anti-Hunter

46,417 votes, 70% reporting (197 of 283 precincts)

Summary of State Senate District 9 Special Election: NY Dove Hunting sent Questionnaires to each of the three candidates. Laurence Hirsch was the only candidate to respond and we assigned a grade of F- to him based on his response. This candidate is an anti-hunting activists and hunters and hunting organizations in Senate District 9 and the corresponding Assembly District must keep an eye on Hirsh’s political aspirations and prevent him from becoming elected.

Todd Kaminsky, who won this election is a democrat –  this seat formerly held by a republican (Dean Skelos). Thus, the State Senate gained  a democrat, thereby changing the balance of power in the State Senate. Prior to this special election the State Senate was comprised of  31 republicans and 31 democrats. Now the composition of the State Senate is 31 republicans and 32 democrats. This is significant because the State Assembly is overwhelmingly democrat, especially downstate where districts are densely clustered. Kaminsky, however is presently a member of the State Assembly, so by becoming State Senator a vacancy is created in the Assembly. NY Dove Hunting will send questionnaires to candidates seeking this seat as soon as we determine who they are. All responses or non-responses will be reported on our website.

Neither Kaminsky nor Christopher McGrath had responded to our questionnaire. Therefore we cannot grade either candidate, except by examining Kaminsky’s voting record as an Assembly Representative. That however goes beyond our scope in surveying “candidates” in impending elections.  Failure to respond to our questionnaire is noted on our website, and although we do not assign a grade to non-responders, we do not consider candidates who do not respond to be favorable.
This election generated 46,417 total votes, and the winning margin was 7.7%.  As NY Dove Hunting acquires petition signatures we will use zip codes determine how many members we have in corresponding districts. In districts which our members / signatories approach historical winning margins, we can turn elections. 

State Assembly -DISTRICT 59- Special Election

CANDIDATES                                     PARTY                VOTE                         PCT.                             

Jaime Williams                                       Democrat            14,522                      82.5%                     

Jeffrey Ferretti                                      Republican            3,086                         17.5                              

17,608 votes, 100% reporting (87 of 87 precincts)

Summary: Overwhelming preference for the democratic candidate and 17,608 total votes cast. Neither candidate bothered to complete our questionnaire.

 

State Assembly- DISTRICT 62-Special Election

CANDIDATES                                          PARTY

Ronald Castorina Uncontested              Republican

Castorino ran unchallenged and he did not return our questionnaire.

State Assembly-DISTRICT 65-Special Election

CANDIDATES      PARTY                    VOTE                           PCT.                           

Alice Cancel           Democrat                     7,284                            41.1%

Yuh-Line Niou     Working Families         6,250                           35.3                              

Lester Chang           Republican                 3,520                         19.9                              

Dennis Levy              Green                         661                             3.7                                   

17,715 votes, 100% reporting (98 of 98 precincts)

The winning margin was not very large and 17,715 votes were cast. Thus, if it is deemed in our best interest, we may be able to “influence” this district in future elections. Since none of these candidates responded to our questionnaire, we do not know if Alice Cancel or any of the others who ran, would be harmful to our dove initiative and other agenda matters like the state pheasant farm.

Source: Election results from The Associated Press. Non-presidential races are called by A.P.

http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/new-york

NY Dove Hunting Questionnaire and Report on Candidates:

http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/candidate-responses-or-lack-thereof.html

http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/candidate-questionnaire.html