Democrats Don't Sweep Western New York's Down-Ticket Races
By Jimmy VielkindBUFFALO—Western New York may be testing the strength of Barack Obama's considerable coattails.
Democrat Alice Kryzan lost the 26th congressional district to Republican Chris Lee. According to the Buffalo News, with 70 percent of precincts reporting the tally is 55-40 (and five points going to Jon Powers on the Working Families Party line, an issue of considerable contention).
Earlier tonight I spoke with Len Lenihan, the Erie County Democratic Party chairman. Expecting a defeat for Kryzan, he said, "Keep in mind Chris had three lines, and is a multi-millionaire."
Democratic State Senate candidate Kathy Konst lost her bid to unseat incumbent Republican Dale Volker.
According to Lenihan, State Senate candidate Joe Mesi is running "about 50-50" in a nail-biter race against Mike Ranzenhofer. They're still waiting on returns from neighboring Genessee County.
State Senate Bill Stachowski, who had to bring in the cavalry after a poor showing in a Siena poll last month, seems to be recovering. He's got 53% of the vote with 70% reporting, and is expected here at the Ellicot Square Building later on.
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What great coattails? In
What great coattails? In terms of predictions, people expected closer to 30 US House seats...we aren't going to make that by far, only plus 18, 19 or 20....
Lots of energy, time, resouces, money, phone banks went into electing Obama president with a too little of that effort going to downticket races all over the country. NYers in great numbers, called Penn, not upstate NY. They gave lots of money to Obama, not Mesi or Barber or McElroy. Indeed the losses upstate are because of too intense a focus on the presidential and Obama.
I am sure that the drop off numbers will show that. In CA there were 600,000 to 800,000 people who only voted for Barack Obama and nobody else down ticket or on important referenda. That's a lot of wasted votes and resources.
Too narrow a focus, and the usual presidential hogging of resources is the reason more Dems didn't win upstate and elsewhere.
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