To the Editor:
It appears though Gov. Kathy Hochul and her allies are still not satisfied with control of the governor’s office, a supermajority in both the Assembly and the Senate, and most of New York’s Congressional delegation. They are attempting to once again gerrymander to eliminate any competitiveness in the election process, change the timing of local elections hoping to eliminate the possibility of any diversity of political opinion, and push other laws to consolidate Democratic power and control throughout our entire state. As a firm believer in the need for meaningful political discourse and voices that challenge the status quo in Albany, I am running for state Senate to push back on these bad-faith tactics.
To that point, I must say what a headline for the Onondaga County Democrat Minority Leader Chris Ryan (”Republicans gerrymander, too. Just look at Onondaga County,” Dec. 11, 2023). It’s like a young child, getting caught doing something they should not be doing by their parents, trying to share the blame with the siblings. At least he can acknowledge fault with his own party’s blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters in New York state, albeit in the most subtle way possible. But in his attempt to shift blame onto another political party, Ryan shows that he is lacking an understanding of Onondaga County’s reapportionment process for the county legislature and has little to no confidence in Onondaga County voters.
When Ryan claims that Republican leadership of the county legislature is thanks solely to partisan gerrymandering, he is skipping over the fact that Democrats have outnumbered Republicans in 11 out of 17 legislative districts for over a decade, and that Republican legislators have held the County Legislature by winning the support of the constituents in five of those Democrat-leaning districts. In one of the Republican-leaning districts, there are only 21 more Republicans than Democrats, making it a true toss-up district.
As the Minority Leader of the legislature, it is Ryan’s job to recruit quality candidates for his party. He failed to do so and is once again shifting blame to avoid deserved scrutiny. Despite his party’s overwhelming enrollment advantage countywide, Ryan chose to run only one opposition candidate in a district where his own party enjoys an enrollment advantage. If Democrats wanted to win more seats in Onondaga County government, they should focus on earning the support of the constituents by running better candidates, especially where they have a registration advantage.
Voters continue to choose good local leadership over party politics, making me proud to run and represent a community of free thinkers who can see through partisan rhetoric. Free thought and choice are pivotal for effective government, and should be celebrated, not decried.
Nick Paro
Salina Town Supervisor
Candidate for 50th state Senate District