Opinion: Republicans have a credibility problem

We’ve already heard the excuses for the historic Republican loss in New York: we didn’t get the base to turn out, fundraising wasn’t good enough, the national environment was too much to overcome.

But we ought to be honest with ourselves. Gov. Kathy Hochul won by nearly 20 points. Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature. As Republicans, did we actually give voters an acceptable alternative?

When I was last in the Assembly, I would often say we may not win every vote, but we can win the argument. Right now, we’re losing both.

Voters don’t trust us to be straight with them. We fight the same way every cycle, defend our own side no matter what and complain about Albany without saying how we’d govern differently. To win back New York, we have to tell the truth, including about ourselves, and implement immediate reform.

Let’s start with how we fight. Too many elected officials have forgotten how to effectively litigate their case. But fighting isn’t just throwing punches. It’s building consensus and delivering results. We’ve also forgotten what and who we’re fighting for. That’s why we lose.

We can’t keep standing on the same stairs, holding the same press conferences, and expect a different outcome. Voters aren’t going to believe that a bunch of us in suits will deliver the results they demand. The Republicans who weathered this storm were on the ground, talking to voters directly and listening. Voters expect you to meet them where they are, hear what they’re dealing with and give them a real answer. Shaking a hand and moving on to the next one doesn’t cut it. That means listening to people who disagree with us, too.

For those who haven’t come to terms with this yet, let me address the elephant in the room: New York is not a red state. So winning here requires earning the respect of independents and Democrats alike.

Second, we need to be clear about what we stand for. Under President Biden, Democrats told voters inflation was transitory. It wasn’t, and the families paying the bills knew it. Two years ago, voters sent Republicans to Washington to fix that. But look at the track record: gas prices are still too high and groceries are still too expensive.

Voters bought something two years ago and didn’t feel they got it, so they brought the receipt to return it. That doesn’t mean they want what Democrats are selling. Nearly half of all voters say they’re dissatisfied with both parties. It just means they are returning what we didn’t deliver, not necessarily that they’re switching their affiliation.

Fixing that dynamic means Republicans must start respecting the people paying the bills. New York is already among the most expensive places in the country to live. New Yorkers need their utility bills to come down, their property taxes to be lowered and their life to get a little easier. Every public dollar comes from someone’s work. So before Albany adopts a budget, mandate or regulation, it should have to explain the cost and who will pay. On energy, a real solution means increasing production, cutting unnecessary regulation and making economic development pay into the system. The current regime simply requires  taxpayers to subsidize winners and losers.

Republicans also need to hold everyone, including our own side, to the same standard. We lose credibility when we only call out Democrats. When our own side gets it wrong, we should say so. I endorsed President Trump in 2024, but the messaging on the economy and the Iran war was wrong. Supporting someone doesn’t mean agreeing with them 100% of the time. That’s calling balls and strikes.

Finally, we have to fix our party infrastructure. I consider Ed Cox a friend, but let’s be clear: right now, we don’t have a party infrastructure. Every governor’s race, including the one I ran, has ended with us saying we should figure out what went wrong and fix it. We have yet to do that. We have no choice now.

That starts with welcoming people in. Too often, we tell new faces they don’t quite fit. We tell young Republicans to wait in line, as if they haven’t earned their place. Instead, they should be brought in, given leadership roles and encouraged. We need to communicate where voters actually are, which means more social media, podcasts and alternative media. And if you don’t know why you’re on a committee, you probably shouldn’t be on it.

Then we need to coordinate. To her credit, Hochul did exactly that after she was blamed for losing the House majority four years ago. Democrats organized and built a cohesive campaign structure. Our Senate and Assembly campaign arms, county committees and town committees should all be working together. Right now, that isn’t the case. It isn’t a failure of capacity. It’s a failure of will. We have strong Republicans running counties and towns across this state, but almost all of them function in silos. 

Coordinating doesn’t mean overwhelming local candidates from the top down. We should agree on core principles, and then let candidates represent their communities. What matters in the Catskills isn’t what matters on Long Island.

Democrats now hold every lever in Albany. But just because they can, should they? Our job is to make them answer that question.

No party is owed a majority. Texas just elected a Democratic senator and governor for the first time in decades. Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California. George Pataki was our governor here in New York. A Republican comeback doesn’t seem possible right now, and that’s the point. It is possible if we change how we operate.

When I walk back into the state Capitol in January, I’m not going there to toe the party line or carry somebody else’s water. I know what I believe, and I know what the people who sent me there expect.

New York voters are yearning for a legitimate alternative. We have to earn their confidence through competence, persistence and the commitments we keep.