A Bright Blue Wave Washed over America November 6
By Michael Kochler
As a record number of voters turned out for the long-awaited mid-term elections. It was the first mid-term to top 100-million votes nationwide.
Nationally the Dems flipped the House of Representatives and then some, picking up 40 seats as of press-time. Two of the flipped seats are in our own backyard as John Faso (NY 19) and Claudia Tenney (NY 22) fell to Antonio Delgado and Anthony Brindisi respectively. The new majority brings a diverse flavor to the hallowed halls of Congress. The incoming Democrats are, as a group, younger with more women and people of color then Capitol Hill has seen before. There will be Moslem, Native American and openly LGBTQ representatives come January.
In the Senate, where there had been concern over a red wave, the damage was confined to a net loss of two seats.
Locally Assemblymember James Skoufis was victorious in his bid for the 39th Senate District seat long held by William Larkin. In the 42nd Senate District covering the western part of Orange County and Sullivan County Jen Metzger pulled off an upset victory over longtime Republican stalwart Annie Rabbitt for the seat being vacated by retiring John Bonacic. This marks the first time in memory that Orange County will be represented in the New York State Senate exclusively by Democrats. The implications are tremendous.
The news from the 99th Assembly District was, however, the sole damper on local election night festivities as first-time candidate Matt Rettig lost in his effort to keep the seat that James Skoufis held in Democratic hands. His opponent was making his third bid for the seat and had an earlier start on the campaign.
An overlooked but highly significant result on the national level was the election of Democrats to seven governorships that had previously been held by Republicans without losing a contested seat. The Republicans managed to add one governorship at the expense of an Independent.
The Democrats have the momentum. It’s up to each of us to keep it going!