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George Pataki has been elected to a third term as governor of New
York, Eliot Spitzer won reelection as State Attorney General, and
Alan Hevesi has been elected New York State Comptroller. As of election
night, all but three incumbents in the races for New York State
Legislature were re-elected, including Liz Krueger on the Upper
East Side. The three incumbents unseated: State Senator Nellie Santiago
lost to former City Council member Martin Dilan in the 17th Senate District, Pedro Espada
lost to Ruben Diaz in the 32nd
Senate District and Vincent Gentile lost his seat in the 22nd
Senate District to Martin Golden, who had represented much of
the Brooklyn district on the City Council. In some districts, though,
there was no incumbent - the winners in these open seats were:
Go to our results page for full results of
the races on New York's ballot yesterday.
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November 7, 2002
Gov. George E. Pataki woke up yesterday morning with
an impressive victory behind him, but as he looks ahead he faces
a governmental and political landscape very different from the one
in which he has flourished during his first two terms. New York Times
A day after coasting to a third term, Gov. Pataki
was immediately confronted yesterday with questions about his long-term
future - and the Republican did little to answer them. NY Daily News
In three successful runs for governor, George E. Pataki's
share of the total vote has barely changed - 49 percent in 1994,
54 percent in 1998 and 49 percent on Tuesday.That looks like a static
electorate, but those numbers disguise dramatic changes in where
the Republicans' and Democrats' votes are coming from New York Times
Although Tuesday's elections left the balance of power
in Albany unchanged, each party made some gains in the house of
the Legislature it controls. New York Times
Recovering from a national thumping and a resounding
defeat for H. Carl McCall in his bid to become governor, New York
Democrats kept the phones ringing yesterday, asking one another:
what now? New York Times
Carl McCall blamed himself yesterday - and a lack
of cash - for his lopsided loss Tuesday to Gov. Pataki. "I accept
the responsibility. We did not do all that we wanted to, although
I think we did our very best," McCall said. NY Daily News
The Liberal Party and four of New York State's other
small parties appear to have suffered a serious setback at the polls
on Tuesday, failing to get enough votes to gain a place on local
and statewide ballots for the next four years. New York TImes NY Post
Tom Golisano lost, but the Independence Party may
have won.Mr. Golisano's advertising blitz, which even he in the
end called excessive, gave the party priceless exposure. Well, not
priceless; he spent about $70 million of his fortune. But beyond
the publicity, Mr. Golisano got 633,000 votes, well over the 50,000
votes the party needed to stay on state ballots automatically for
the next four years. New York Times
Eighteen hours after the polls closed in the tightest
statewide election in New York, John J. Faso, a Republican assemblyman,
conceded yesterday that he had lost the campaign for state comptroller
to his Democratic opponent, Alan G. Hevesi. New York Times
New York City registered what may be a record low
in voter turnout on Tuesday, with an estimated 34.2 percent of registered
voters casting their ballots. The last time city voters came out
in similarly low numbers was in 1990, when 38 percent of registered
voters voted. New York State may also have reached a new low with
an estimated 40 percent of voters casting their ballots. New York Times
The storm surrounding the city Correction Department
diminished the role of agency employees in the re-election of Gov.
George Pataki.Ê In a reversal of earlier plans, a Republican-paid
three-star chief was not directing volunteers, and a correction
officers' union did not have its delegates in the field on city-paid
labor-management time. Newsday
Mayor Michael Bloomberg hailed Gov. George Pataki's
election to a third term yesterday but erroneously stated that the
governor "won by ... an overwhelming margin here in the city."For
that reason, Bloomberg then added, "that's going to keep his focus
on the city." Pataki actually lost the city for the third straight
election, though by a narrower margin than in his previous two races.
Newsday
Much has been made about how the chairman of the Democratic
National Committee, Terrence McAuliffe, stiffed New York's Democratic
candidate for governor, H. Carl McCall. Equally feckless was the
failure of Governor Pataki to back forcefully the Republican nominee
for comptroller, John Faso. NY Sun
November 6, 2002
Gov. George E. Pataki, a pragmatic Republican who
ran a campaign intended to appeal as much to liberals as to conservatives,
was elected to a third term yesterday with a solid majority, ending
the quest of the Democratic challenger, H. Carl McCall, to become
the state's first black governor. New York Times NY Daily News Newsdsay NY Post
NY Observer
Alan G. Hevesi, a Democrat who spent three decades
in public office before losing his bid to become New York's mayor
last year, appeared to revive his political career last night when
he was narrowly elected state comptroller, according to early, unofficial
returns. But his opponent, Assemblyman John J. Faso, did not concede.
New York Times NY Daily News NY Post
Democrat Eliot Spitzer coasted to a second term as
state attorney general over Republican Dora Irizarry last night
in a contest that was over before it even started. NY Daily News NY Post
Gov. George E. Pataki celebrated his victory last
night much the way he gained it, aided by an eclectic array of supporters
-- labor leaders, important figures in the state Republican Party,
the current mayor of New York and a former one, and bevy of celebrants
from various corners of New York's ethnic enclaves. New York Times
On the eve of the election, H. Carl McCall, who was
making a historic bid as the first black man nominated by a major
party for the governorship in New York State, said that he had never
entertained the thought that he might lose. But almost everybody
else had. New York Times NY Post
Yesterday, Republican George E. Pataki, won a third
term as governor, as the most prominent member of a moderate-to-liberal
faction that stands further outside the mainstream of the national
party than at any time in a generation. New York Times
Liz Krueger, the incumbent in the 26th State Senate
District on Manhattan's Upper East Side, held on to her seat early
this morning, surviving a vigorous challenge from Andrew S. Eristoff,
a former city councilman. With 100 percent of the vote counted at
12:30 a.m., Ms. Krueger had beaten Mr. Eristoff 58 percent to 42
percent. New York Times
Sara M. Gonzalez last night won the three-way race
to replace former City Councilman Angel Rodriguez of Brooklyn, who
resigned this summer before pleading guilty to federal bribery charges.
New York Times
At 10 minutes to 10, the auditorium looked like the
R train at rush hour. Volunteers, reporters, political operators:
all stood talking, drinking, glancing at the TV screen. A single
couple danced to "Shake Your Booty" in front of a huge Carl McCall
poster. And Carl McCall was nowhere in sight. NY Daily News
With the most expensive governor's race in U.S. history
now over, get ready for Albany and City Hall to start talking about
the other bill coming due - to taxpayers. NY Daily News
In his first try for governor, in 1994, maverick billionaire
Tom Golisano spent well over $6 million and pulled in 4% of the
vote.Four years later, he doubled his spending and his share of
the vote. NY Daily News
Queens sent a Latino to Albany for the first time,
Brooklyn elected a Republican to the state Senate and the blood
feud between two Bronx political families ended in victory for a
father and son.With all 62 seats in the state Senate and all 150
in the Assembly up for grabs, the balance of power remained status
quo. The GOP held a majority in the upper house, and the Democrats
easily maintained control of the lower chamber.Still, there was
drama with some hotly contested city races. NY Daily News
New York's Liberal Party, after a half-century of
playing at times the cagey ally, at other times the nemesis to both
Republicans and Democrats, lost its place on all ballots for the
next four years. New York Times
In Rochester New York, where residents say they are
bombarded by depressing economic news almost every day, there is
a feeling of being left behind, of being at the mercy of politicians
from downstate who do not seem to grasp the magnitude of the troubles
up here. New York Times
A change to the City Charter championed by Mayor Michael
R. Bloomberg was approved last night, according to unofficial returns.With
99 percent of districts reporting, 61 percent had voted in favor
of a requirement that a special election be held within 60 days
if the mayor becomes unable to serve, and 39 percent had voted against
it. Until now, it could take as long as 15 months for such an election
to be held. New York Times NY Daily News NY Post
For the second straight year, the Democratic Party
in the city finds itself stung by election results - and split over
who's to blame and who should lead the new charge. Even before the
polls closed, there was private discussion of whether U.S. Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton may begin playing a bigger role in the local
organization. Newsday
City voters re-elected incumbents en masse. The 14
members of the U.S. Congress with all or part of their districts
in the city were rolling to what appeared to be easy victories.
So were incumbent members of the state legislature. Newsday
Yawn. It was a sleepy day at the polls yesterday.
"It doesn't seem to be terribly busy anywhere," Lee Daglian, a state
Board of Elections spokesman, reported at midday. NY Post
To the outside observer, it looked as if Roger Stone
was merely running Independence Party candidate Tom Golisano's campaign
for Governor. Actually, lots of insiders think Mr. Stone was carrying
out a $50 million revenge fantasy against Governor Pataki. NY Observer
All of the energy that the Carl McCall campaign never
managed to muster was on display last week at a rally in the streets
outside Governor Pataki's midtown office. It wasn't a huge rally.
About 500 protesters were present, brought there by a half-dozen
organizations, all of them focused on jobs and the lack of them
and all equally frustrated that their issues -- unemployment relief,
a higher minimum wage, workers' compensation reforms -- never managed
to make their way to the forefront of the agenda for any of the
three major gubernatorial candidates, including the Democrat who
had only to summon such troops to make them come running. Village
Voice
Together, it was small-business owners and traditionally
Democratic unions that put the governor over the top, reeling in
what is expected to be the largest number of Latino voters ever
to cast a ballot for a Republican in a New York statewide race.
NY Sun
November 5, 2002
A third term within his grasp, Gov. Pataki ended his
campaign yesterday coasting on a message that New York is a "better,
stronger state," while Carl McCall fought rain and grim new poll
numbers with a promise of "sweeping change." (NY Daily News) (Newsday) (NY Post)
Former New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi holds
a double-digit lead over Assemblyman John Faso in the battle for
state comptroller, two polls yesterday showed. The Marist College
survey found Democrat Hevesi leading Republican Faso, 50-33 percent,
while a Quinnipiac University survey put Hevesi ahead by an almost
identical margin, 49-34 percent. (NY Post)
With little to worry about in their own local contests,
Democratic incumbents in the city used the last day before Tuesday's
elections to promote Carl McCall and Alan Hevesi at the top of the
ticket (Newsday)
Two final polls yesterday confirmed what's been clear for weeks:
Gov. Pataki is heading for a landslide win today over Carl McCall
and Tom Golisano. A Marist College survey showed Republican Pataki
ahead of Democratic state Comptroller McCall among likely voters,
47 to 27 percent, with 19 percent for Independence Party challenger
Golisano. (NY Post)
With the help of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Carl McCall
last night made it to the finish line in his uphill race against
Gov. Pataki, spending his final hours campaigning around New York
City with mostly Democratic voters. (NY Post)
On the last day of the campaign for governor of New
York, the incumbent, George E. Pataki, barnstormed the state's major
cities in a chartered jet today, telling his supporters to vote
for him because the state was better off than when he took office
in 1995. (New York Times)
New Yorkers go to the polls today to fill the top
state posts and all seats in the Legislature, to elect the state's
Congressional delegation and to settle scattered local races and
ballot questions. (New York Times)
With one day left to today's election, Gov. George
Pataki took a last swing around the state that seemed more like
a victory lap as two new polls showed him with a double-digit lead
over Democrat H. Carl McCall and Independence candidate B. Thomas
Golisano. (Albany Times Union)
Injured? Need help? Call Weitz & Luxenberg. You just
might wind up as the legal client of the speaker of the state Assembly,
Sheldon Silver of Manhattan.Mr. Silver, who quietly maintains a
private law practice, recently switched his affiliation to Weitz
& Luxenberg, a personal injury firm known for prolific asbestos
litigation and aggressive advertising. (NY Sun)
Law firms that specialize in suing corporations whose
stock prices fall are pouring last-minute donations into the race
for state comptroller, knowing that whoever wins will be in a position
to hire them for lucrative class-action suits.One prominent firm,
Milberg Weiss, donated $100,000 to the Democratic candidate, Alan
Hevesi, on October 30, according to records from the state Board
of Elections. That same day two of the firm's partners, Melvyn Weiss
of New York and William Lerach of San Diego, contributed $13,500
each. (NY Sun)
November 4, 2002
One loves the Buffalo Bills, Bruce Springsteen and
hiking in the woods. Another is a fan of good jazz who tries to
quote the lyrics from a James Brown song but gets them all wrong.
The third loves a neat office, drives a red convertible and mixes
the trappings of wealth with middlebrow tastes.These men are the
three leading candidates for governor of New York, in the order
that they appear on the ballot. (New York Times)
Tom Golisano's big announcement turned out to be nothing
more than a big tease.After building a cliff-hanger over whether
he would drop out of the governor's race and back Carl McCall, the
billionaire bought $850,000 in air time just to make his same old
campaign pitch. (NY Daily News) (NY Post) (New YorK Times)
In the end it made no political sense. Actually, in
the beginning it made no political sense.Therefore it did not happen.
Tom Golisano, the billionaire Independence Party candidate for governor,
did not drop out yesterday in favor of the Democrat, H. Carl McCall.
Tomorrow is still Election Day, and Mr. Golisano is still a candidate.
(New York Times)
Carl McCall's "secret weapon" last night exploded
in his face. For two days, almost all of the attention in the governor's
race was focused on whether billionaire Tom Golisano would throw
in the towel and back McCall in his uphill quest to unseat Republican
Gov. Pataki. (NY Post)
Gov. Pataki's mammoth fund-raising advantage over
Democrat Carl McCall has grown even more huge in the final days
of the gubernatorial race, new records show. (NY Daily News)
With less than 48 hours before the election, Carl
McCall again criticized the national Democratic Party yesterday
for not doing enough to help him oust Gov. Pataki. (NY Daily News)
While Gov. George Pataki campaigned furiously in Brooklyn
yesterday, Democrat H. Carl McCall's struggling bid absorbed another
disappointment as Independence candidate Tom Golisano announced
last evening that he would remain in the race rather than throw
his support behind McCall. (Newsday)
Candidates and campaign workers spread out across
the five boroughs yesterday, greeting New Yorkers at churches, shopping
malls and outdoor rallies with impassioned pleas to vote in tomorrow's
election. (Newsday)
The city will roll out its 40-year-old voting machines
tomorrow and hope they make it through one more election cycle.While
the 7,000 machines have been blamed for problems in voting over
the years, the Board of Elections and a watchdog group think the
machines will get through the day. "A rash of broken machines is
not expected," said Gene Russianoff of the New York Public Interest
Research Group. "The board is doing a better job of training poll
watchers and they're maintaining the machines better." (Newsday)
Eliot Spitzer, New York's attorney general, who is
seen by some as the scourge of Wall Street, says he has given no
thought to his political future beyond standing for re-election
tomorrow. If that is true, then he is the only person in New York
politics who has not. (New York Times)
In one television ad, a candidate accused his rival
of having once been a drug dealer. In response, the target of the
charge put out a television ad that accused the first candidate
of being bereft of principles and a "sellout."These are the themes
of the final week of the race in the 32nd State Senate District,
a swath of the South Bronx that for the last few months has been
the scene of one of the most unusual, contentious and litigious
political races New York City has seen. (New YorK Times)
November 3, 2002
Carl McCall began his campaign aiming to make history
by becoming New York's first black governor. Now he may wind up
in the record books for an unwelcome reason: as the Democrat to
have the poorest showing in a New York governor race since the Civil
War. (NY Daily News)
Maverick billionaire Tom Golisano couldn't buy the
governor's race, but he finally gave the ho-hum contest an element
it had been missing: suspense. (NY Daily News) (New York Times)
What began as a ho-hum campaign - the race for state
controller - has flared into a surprisingly close battle royale.
GOP hopeful John Faso has fought back from a 20-point deficit in
the polls, gaining on better-known Democrat Alan Hevesi. Faso has
sliced his opponent's lead to just 7 points, according to last week's
Marist College poll. (NY Daily News)
A Newsday/NY1 poll shows Gov. George Pataki with a
commanding 16 percentage point lead in a race in which, despite
a record $119 million in campaign spending, only roughly half the
electorate can identify either a specific policy or general issue
raised by the three leading candidates. (Newsday)
Unable to budge from his third-place standing in the governor's race
despite spending more than $54 million, Independence candidate Tom
Golisano yesterday stirred more speculation and suspense about whether
he would drop out and throw his support to Democrat H. Carl McCall.
(Newsday)
Don't ever underestimate the power of hate. Tom Golisano
would definitely love to be the governor. He's pursued that dream
with a single-minded vigor - $53 million worth (and counting) on
his third run alone. But love, it turns out, isn't the only great
motivator in politics. Loathing also carries some weight. (Newsday)
Although the governor's race is getting the most attention
in this state election year, lower on Tuesday's ballot are a host
of local races for state Assembly and Senate, including three new
districts in Queens. And while many incumbents face only weak challenges
- or are running unopposed - a few are locked in hard-fought battles.
(Newsday)
It will take a lot more than Tom Golisano prematurely
throwing in the political towel to elect Carl McCall governor, Democratic
and Republican insiders agreed yesterday (NY Post)
As all signs pointed to him staying in the governor's
race, Independence Party candidate Tom Golisano strung voters along
yesterday, saying he would make a two-minute paid televised "announcement"
tonight about the future of his campaign. (NY Post)
A profile of Democratic candidate for governor, H.
Carl McCall. (NY Post)
The Working Families Party, a third party of unions
and liberal advocacy groups that picked H. Carl McCall as its candidate,
needs 50,000 votes to stay on the ballot for the next four years.
So it is holding an online contest with cash awards. (New York Times)
November 2, 2002
From campaign mailings to high-priced political consultants
and even niceties like cocktail parties and flowers, H. Carl McCall
has been hugely outspent by his two main opponents in the governor's
race. (New York Times)
Democrats called on Tom Golisano yesterday to drop
out of the race for governor and endorse H. Carl McCall, but he
rebuffed their entreaties. (New York Times)
The two candidates for state comptroller yesterday
held their first and only debate, a contentious event that had Alan
G. Hevesi and John J. Faso criticizing each other in the combative
language and tones of their television commercials. (New York Times)
The campaigns of H. Carl McCall and Tom Golisano engaged
in a whirl of discussions Friday in which McCall allies tried to
persuade Golisano to drop out and throw his support behind the Democrat's
bid to unseat their mutual opponent, Gov. George Pataki. (Newsday)
November 1, 2002
Gubernatorial hopeful Tom Golisano abruptly canceled $4.5 million
in planned TV ads in the city yesterday, and is weighing whether
to stay in the race. (NY Daily News) (NY Post) (New York Times)
From engineering firms and real estate developers
to communications firms and energy producers, stakeholders in the
business of government -- making liberal use of both the high limits
and loopholes in New York law -- have played a key role in stuffing
the campaign coffers of George Pataki and the state Republican Party
over the past four years. (Newsday)
Five days before Election Day, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday
left Carl McCall far behind - and crossed party lines to join Gov.
Pataki for a ribbon-cutting at an upstate plant. (NY Post)
Despite 30 years on the political scene, H. Carl McCall,
67, the Democratic candidate, is barely known by voters, who, according
to polls, may recognize his name but do not have an impression of
him. (New York Times)
The race for state comptroller has suddenly grown
intense: the polls show a tightening battle and the candidates are
going after each other with increasing ferocity. Yesterday, they
each unleashed new commercials aimed at discrediting the other.
(New York Times)
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday accused
officials overseeing the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan of avoiding
public accountability by failing to publicly discuss and vote on
proposals to spend billions of dollars in federal aid promised after
the Sept. 11 attack. (New York Times)
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