Posted on 05/28/2012 4:40:46 PM PDT by neverdem
On May 25, 2011, Kathy Hochul woke up a star.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called her from London with congratulations. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, effusively praised her. News outlets from France, Denmark and Japan all covered the story of how she had pulled off an upset in a Republican district in a closely watched special election.
“It was an exhilarating time,” Ms. Hochul recalled.
Life is more anxiety-filled these days for Ms. Hochul, who now is the most endangered Democratic House incumbent in New York State and one of the most imperiled in the country, according to political analysts.
Redistricting has thrown the 53-year-old freshman into the most conservative district in the state — away from the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester and into a rural area of farms and villages in a district near the Canadian border.
As a result, the woman who rode a wave of anger over a Republican plan to cut Medicare a year ago must convince a primarily Republican electorate that she can represent it and offer an independent voice, regardless of party label...
--snip--
But with the governor and legislative leaders unable to agree on new Congressional lines, a federal magistrate judge intervened, releasing a map that created a district for Ms. Hochul that was even more conservative than the one she represented.
In all, about 10,000 additional Republican and Conservative voters were added to the district, while about 1,200 registered Democrats were cut out of it. The district, now New York’s 27th, is home to 188,500 registered Republicans and Conservatives, 141,000 Democrats and 22,000 independents...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Au revoir, Commie!!!
Every stovepipe has at least one elbow in it.
Buh-bye Bolshevik!
And just who was it that redistricted this Democratic icon into the "most conservative district in the state"?
Why, the Democratically controlled Legislature, of course.
Republicans were unable to find a top tier candidate to run. Fortunately, they might not need one.
There. Fixed it. The "RATs won cuz the GOP wanted to cut medicare" myth was debunked long ago. Chanting "MEDICARE! MEDICARE! MEDICARE!" a few months later in Anthony Weiner's district did absolutely nothing to bolster their side and stop the seat from falling into GOP hands. But if the RATs want to delude themselves into thinking they won NY-23 because of "voter anger over a GOP plan", be my guest.
Bye bye Kathy.
I would rather return the drawing of district lines to the unchallenged power of state legislatures, no matter how corrupt, than continue the trend of passing the power entirely to blackrobes. Screw the Voting Rights Act.
We elect legislatures to make the tough decisions, not unelected judges or the DOJ.
Why, the Democratically controlled Legislature, of course.
Not exactly. The two houses of the New York legislature were divided, and so a court stepped in to draw the district lines.
http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/thomas-f-omara/
This clown should withdraw the bill or be primaried. It gets worse. He's not just a pubbie. He had the Conservative endorsement too for the last election.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
You are correct.
I did not realize that the Republicans had taken over the NY State Senate after the tsunami of 2010.
Please accept my apology.
Why, the Democratically controlled Legislature, of course.
This being from the NY Times, I should have assumed an aversion to reading the whole story, and done a better jobof excerpting. The GOP controls the NY State Senate.
"But with the governor and legislative leaders unable to agree on new Congressional lines, a federal magistrate judge intervened, releasing a map that created a district for Ms. Hochul that was even more conservative than the one she represented."
She’s toast; easy GOP pickup.
There was no "Republican plan" to "cut Medicare." She also won because the seat opened due to a scandal involving he previous Republican officeholder, coupled with the fact there was a phony Tea Party candidate on the ballot which was really an ultra liberal Obama supporter (which, if you recall, there were some people on this forum trumpeting him for no other reason than he was labeled as a Tea Party candidate - some of the very same people who attack the rest of us with the bogus accusation we'll vote for someone with an "R" beside his name).
The legislature failed to draw them.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Problem is that is likely to be countered with them trying to redistrict the 25th district include Ithaca in it to try and get Ann Marie Buerkle out.
I am going to have to dig in to this moron. If we can find someone to primary him we will.
I am working hard behind the scenes on this one. She will lose, I gurandamtee it. She stepped in it big time when she admitted that they were not looking at the Constitution on healthcare. She has awoken many, many people here. She knows she will lose now. I liked her as county clerk, she should have stayed there.
Irrelevant. Absent judicial backup, the legislature would have either drawn them, or have no representation in the House.
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