NEW YORK PEACE NETWORK Alert #184

Dear Peace Advocate,

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We all know the Barack Obama headlines, but policy is never made by one person. Who else will be representing us in 2009?

In New York State

Locally, the biggest news is the turn-over of the New York State Senate from 30 Republicans, 30 Democrats, and two open seats to 32 Dems and 30 Republicans. While all the Democratic incumbents in the Senate maintained their seats, two long-time incumbent Republicans lost: Serphin Maltese of Ozone Park, Queens to Joseph Addabbo, Jr., and Caesar Trunzo of Suffolk County, to Brian X. Foley. But it's not all good news for the Dems. Two Republican incumbents, Frank Padavan and Kemp Hannon, appear to have won reelection in close races, and Republicans won both the two open Senate seats - Michael Ranzenhofer in Buffalo and Roy McDonald in Saratoga Springs/Rensalaer.

Most importantly, though the Dems now have a majority, a "Gang of Four" Democratic Senators are threatening to abstain from endorsing Democrat Malcolm A. Smith of Queens as Majority Leader, leaving the position to Republican Dean Skelos. This would prevent the Democrats from naming Committee Chairs and controlling the legislative process.

In Washington DC

The Senate, which was evenly divided, at 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two independents, has now moved to a Democratic majority. As of Thursday, the totals are 56 Democrats and 40 Republicans, with 4 crucial seats - the difference between a majority and a filibuster-proof majority - still undecided.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats again increased their numbers. With eight seats still undecided, the Democrats now have a majority of 254 to 173 Republicans.

In the New York State Congressional Delegation, Republicans lost three seats, bringing the total to 26 Democrats to 3 Republicans. According to Newsday, the GOP has not had so few members representing New York State in Congress since before the Civil War.

In the 29th Congressional District (Southern Tier) challenger Eric Massa narrowly beat Randy Kuhl, the Republican incumbent, but the margin is narrow and Kuhl has yet to concede.
The 13th Congressional District (Staten Island and a part of Brooklyn), was won by Democrat Michael McMahon. This was an open seat after the retirement of Republican Vito Fossella.
The 25th Congressional District (Syracuse), also an open seat after the retirement of Republican Jim Walsh, was won by Democrat Dan Maffei.
In the 20th District (Albany), Democrat Kristen Gillibrand narrowly won reelection.
In a small victory for the Republicans, Chris Lee beat Democrat Alice Kryzan in the 26th Congressional District (Buffalo to Rochester.)

If you live in a district where someone has been elected for the first time, please use your five minutes for peace this week to set up an appointment with them. This is your best opportunity to get to know your new elected officials and introduce yourself, your group, and Peace Action. Let them know that you are looking forward to working with them and what you expect in return. If you want more detailed advice about lobby visits, contact the Peace Action New York State office at 646-723-1749.

If you don’t live in a district with a new elected official, take the opportunity to reach out to the Democratic party leadership in your district. In all of New York State, the Democrats are now the decision makers. Meeting with party bosses will make sure that as many of our elected decision makers as possible are committed to Peace Action’s agenda in 2009 – ending the war in Iraq, preventing war in Iran, and decreasing the United States military budget.

If you're not yet connected with a local peace group, please see our chapter list, or contact me directly.

As always, thanks for all you do.

Cheryl
Peace Action of New York State
info@panys.org