In recent weeks I’ve heard from several friends and colleagues who have told me that they were disappointed by the absence of the much anticipated “Red Wave” during this month’s elections. While it’s true – the grand seizure of state and Senate positions that some speculated never materialized – what we did see should be a wake-up call for the Democratic Party.
Republican candidate Lee Zeldin came closer to becoming New York’s governor than any GOP candidate since the days of George Pataki. In Congress, New Yorkers proved crucial in allowing the Party of Lincoln to reclaim the House of Representatives, as voters opted to replace five-term Democratic stalwart Sean Patrick Maloney with Republican candidate Michael Lawler, and elected Republicans Marc Molinaro, Anthony D’Esposito, and George Santos to flip the hotly contested seats for NY Districts 19, 4, and 3. On a more local level, Republicans were able to break the veto-proof supermajority of the Dems in the State Assembly, sending several long-time pols packing and replacing them with more Conservative-leaning legislators.
