Reynolds to Hang It Up?
Written by Sean on November 17th, 2007Multiple sources in Western New York politics have confirmed that there is a strong possibility that Cong. Tom Reynolds (R–Erie) will not run for a sixth term next year, opening up a race for the seat by State Sen. George Maziarz (R–Niagara), thus placing Maziarz’ seat up for grabs.
There have been too many retirements already, but I’d welcome this one. If Reynolds had dealt with the Foley scandal when he heard about it, we might still have the House. We’ll have a better chance of taking it back in the near future if we can rid ourselves of those who ignore scandal rather than those who deal with it.
As for the effects on New York State, well, that’s another story. When I was working in Washington about six years ago, a knowledgable colleague said of New York, “We’ll never lose the Senate because we write the rules.” Suffice it to say that the Democrats can’t do nearly as much damage to the GOP as Republicans can, and the once safe State Senate could well fall as a result of Republican fiscal irresponsibility.
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I believe the GOP only holds a very slim majority in the State Senate now and two of those seats are in parts of New York City that have now been trending Democrat in all other races. So when those two incumbents retire, the Republicans are likely to lose those as well. If they lose the majority before 2012 they are in trouble because the Dems can redraw the districts after Census and they’ll gerrymander them.
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Firstly- good riddance. I grew up in Tom Reynolds’ district and he was my congressman for a while. I think he’s the epitome of everything that’s wrong with politics today.
Secondly- The Dems will have their hands full if they try to flip Maziarz’s district. Aside from a few suburban spots, that seat is mostly comprised of rural conservative areas like Niagara and Orleans Counties (Maziarz was my State Senator too). The only worry would be if 2 or 3 strong Republicans primary each other and thereby weaken the winner.
Thirdly- At times like this I wish I still lived up there and could get involved. But Sam’s right. Even if the Dems don’t take Maziarz’s seat, they will eventually take the State Senate. They’re already in charge of the Assembly and Governor’s mansion. If you thought NY couldn’t get any more screwed up, just wait…
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Even I have to say this and I am neither conservative nor Republican.
These GOP retirements are troubling. What is going on in your party?
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chaotiform, we’re not taking the House back next year and we’re looking at some serious problems with redistricting after the 2010 census, so some people are probably thinking it’ll be a while before we take back the House. Of course people like Reynolds are the reason we lost it in the first place, so a retirement like this could actually help us strengthen the Party. Of course Democrats aren’t bothered by scandal. That’s why they can win with someone who stashed a bribe in his freezer.