By Gerald Benjamin   The brief dustup in the Judiciary Committee regarding the nomination of Jenny Rivera for the Court of Appeals is just the latest piece of evidence that Republicans, with their Independent Democrat coalition partners, are presiding in the Senate but not governing through it. The Committee is comprised of 12 Republicans, 9 Democrats and 2 Independent Democrats; unlike the Senate as a whole, it has a Republican majority. The committee chair, John Bonacic, and some GOP members… [More]

The politics of gay marriage in New York State could look very different the day after November’s general election than it does just after the GOP primaries.… [More]

State Sen. James Alesi chose not to run for re-election after voting for same-sex marriage last year, but he’s stayed involved by maxing out in contributions to the other three Republican senators who joined him in supporting the measure. Close primary races involving two of the senators – Sen. Steve Saland, who narrowly won, and Sen. Roy McDonald, who narrowly lost – were hailed by opponents as proof that passing the law was a mistake. But Alesi, who distributed $16,800 apiece to McDonald, Saland… [More]

  How many election days does a state need to get everyone elected? This year in New York – exceptional as always – there are three, including yesterday’s state Senate and Assembly primaries, which shared the ballot with various other races for district leader, judge and district attorney. Voters didn’t exactly flock to the polls, but they ousted incumbents mired in legal trouble, cast votes for or against Republicans who voted for same-sex marriage in races still too close to… [More]

State Senate Races to Watch:  10th Senate District Shirley Huntley vs. James Sanders (Democratic) State Sen. Shirley Huntley, who has had the whiff of scandal hanging over her for months, was arrested last month and accused of being involved in a scheme to steal taxpayer funds from a nonprofit she had founded. Despite her legal troubles the incumbent still has plenty of backers, though her challenger, City Councilman James Sanders, had already landed a few key endorsements, including one from… [More]

The Republican state senators who voted yes on same-sex marriage have been spending heavily on their re-election campaigns, with three senators facing primary challenges on Sept. 13. Sen. Roy McDonald, facing a tough primary campaign against Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione after his vote “yes” on same-sex marriage, raised more than $50,000 in the final campaign finance report before his primary election next week. But the candidate also spent more than $227,000, including more than $100,000 on TV ads. Sen.… [More]

Albany debates minimum-wage increase, with politics playing a starring role Five days a week Michelle Dawkins wakes up at 2:30 a.m. and drives from her Bronx apartment to begin her shift at JFK Airport, ferrying wheelchair-bound passengers among the airport’s eight terminals. From 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Dawkins—whom her co-workers affectionately call “Mother Love”—will make $7.25 an hour, or $58 for the day. If Dawkins, 42, doesn’t require an unpaid sick day, and if the airport needs her for… [More]

The clock runs down in Albany on campaign finance reform This was supposed to be the year that statewide campaign finance reform finally got passed. After decades of frustration and false stops, good-government groups and other proponents of reform found the ally they had been waiting for in the form of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state’s powerful and effective chief executive. In his State of the State Address in January, Cuomo delighted longtime advocates for reform by not just publicly… [More]

From Jon Lentz’s story about renegades within the state Conservative Party, comes this nugget about the electoral fate of Sen. Stephen Saland and the other Senate Republicans who voted “yes” on same-sex marriage. State Sen. Roy McDonald, one of four Republican senators to vote for same-sex marriage, recently won the backing of Conservatives in Columbia County, which was added to his district through redistricting. But McDonald’s district also includes Saratoga County, where local Conservatives are backing a primary challenger, Kathy… [More]

After gay marriage, a transformative coalition splinters into just another interest group As spring turned into summer last year, a battle over gay rights was brewing in New York City. This was not the years-long struggle to legalize same-sex marriage in the state, a clash being waged at the highest levels of government, with millions of dollars helping frame the issue as a civil rights battle that became a generational test of progressive values. Instead, it was a battle about… [More]