8 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • OCTOBER 2018
IN THE NEWS
ELECTION PREVIEW: POWER IN PLAY
BY TIMOTHY BOLGER
While Democrats hope to recapture
a Congressional majority to
block President Trump’s agenda this
Election Day, Long Island could play
a pivotal role in potentially flipping
the Republican-led New York State
Senate.
Some of LI’s nine state Senate districts
are in play, experts say, casting
doubt on the GOP’s current one-vote
majority — control currently hinging
on a lone Democratic senator that
votes with the Republicans. And if six
ex-members of the recently disbanded
GOP-aligned Independent Democratic
Conference losing September
primaries amid record turnout is any
indication, the predicted blue wave
may wash Republicans out of state
Senate leadership. It would be the
first time in a decade that the Democrats
controlled the state’s upper legislative
chamber, where Republicans
are the lone check on Democratic
power in state government.
“Anyone who cares about the
future of New York State should be
scared to death,” State Senate Majority
Leader John Flanagan (R-Northport)
wrote in an email to supporters shortly
after the September primaries. “If
the Democrat socialists running for
Senate succeed in November, no one
will be around to protect hard-working
taxpayers. Our Senate majority
has never been more important than
it is today. We are the leaders and the
last line of defense.”
Republicans have been reminding
voters that the last time the Democrats
controlled the state Senate, they
enacted the unpopular MTA payroll
tax. The move prompted voters to
restore the GOP’s state Senate majority
after two years of Democratic
control.
Out of 63 state Senate seats on ballots
next month, a City & State analysis
pegs four as toss ups. Three are
in Nassau County. Two are held by
Republicans and one by a Democrat.
There’s a rematch between 23-year
incumbent state Sen. Carl Marcellino
(R-Syosset) and Democratic Suffolk
County Water Authority Chairman
James Gaughran, who lost by one
percent in 2016. Freshman state Sen.
Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill) faces
a challenge from Democratic Town
of North Hempstead Councilwoman
Anna Kaplan. And Republican
Massapequa Park Village Mayor Jeff
Pravato is challenging two-term state
Sen. John Brooks (D-Massapequa),
who’s defending a seat in a GOP-leaning
district.
Hot-button issues likely to be
debated in next year’s legislative
session include proposals to legalize
recreational marijuana, create
single-payer health care, and codify
abortion rights — especially given
Democratic fears that Trump’s
nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court
could help conservatives overturn
Roe v. Wade. But Democratic leaders
argue that giving their party
control of the state Senate will
help New York State push back on
Washington, D.C.
“This is not about Democrat,
Republican politics,” said Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, who’s seeking a third
term against Republican upstate
Dutchess County Executive Marc
Molinaro. “This is about who we are
as a country and what we believe ...
And we have a different vision from
Washington.”
As for Congress, the Democrats
need to flip 24 seats to regain a
majority in the House of Representatives
and two seats to get control of the
U.S. Senate. Of LI’s five congressional
districts, The Cook Political Report, a
nonprofit election forecaster, reports
that two are competitive.
One is in the Island’s East End
swing district, where two-term U.S.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) faces
Democratic businessman Perry Gershon.
The other is U.S. Rep. Peter King
(R-Seaford) running for his 14th term
against Democrat Liuba Grechen-
Shirley, who made national headlines
when the Federal Elections Commission
unprecedentedly allowed her to
use campaign funds to pay for child
care while she’s on the trail.
But reports of Democrats having
momentum on their side this cycle
haven’t dissuaded the GOP from
trying to unseat Democratic incumbents.
Ameer Benno, a Republican
attorney challenging two-term U.S.
Rep Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City),
says Democrats flipping the House
would be unproductive.
“All they’re going to bring, if the
House goes to the Democrats, is obstruction,
rancor...and more of the
same.”
Leaders in the New York State Capitol in Albany are bracing for Election Day.