Free Republic

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge on Monday gave a long disputed victory to a Republican in an upstate Senate race, strengthening a bipartisan coalition that will run the chamber beginning Jan. 1. The decision in the 46th district, pending an appeal, gives Republicans a working majority of 32 votes, including Democratic Sen.-elect Simcha Felder. The Brooklyn Democrat has said he will vote with the GOP.

Obama used Sandy to win. Chris Matthews thanked Sandy for her help. Now the aftermath of Sandy remains and Obama is nowhere to be found. Guess Sandy was a one night stand for Barry.

America’s heart, soul, brains and muscle — the middle- and working-class people who make this nation great — have been beset for too long by sapping economic decline. So, too, New York breadwinners and families. ~snip~ Revival of the U.S. as a land of opportunity and upward mobility is the central challenge facing the next President. The question for Americans: Who is more likely to accomplish the mission — Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? Four years ago, the Daily News endorsed Obama, seeing a historic figure whose intelligence, political skills and empathy with common folk positioned him to build on...

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has placed a rush order of two million meals to be delivered to Floyd Bennett New York Harbor Parks, and Lakehurst New Jersey. The solicitation was placed at 2:30 pm EST on 2 November 2012, with a response time of no later than 8 pm on the same day. The solicitation was amended less than four hours later for providers to provide a quote of four million meals, preferably of the self-heating variety. The request is for self-heating Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) with a 13-month...

New York state law allows for an extra day of voting if turnout is drastically suppressed because of a natural disaster like Superstorm Sandy. That could potentially postpone state, congressional and even presidential election results beyond Tuesday’s Election Day. State Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin confirmed Friday that the law permits election commissioners to create a second day of voting if the turnout in any county is less than 25 percent of the total number of registered voters...

The power restoration came as gasoline supplies headed to coastal zones devastated by the record storm surge and to motorists whose patience has been tested by gasoline rationing during the painstaking effort to rebuild. With the U.S. presidential election just three days away, about 3 million homes and business remained without power in a region choked with storm debris and long gas lines reminiscent of the 1970s-era U.S. fuel shortage. Angry storm victims wondered when their lives would return to normal.

In 2010, Republican Randy Altschuler lost by 692 votes to Democrat Tim Bishop, the incumbent Congressman representing New York's first congressional district that covers Suffolk County – the eastern end of Long Island. Altschuler said then that Bishop was a part of the problem in Washington and Bishop, the Democrat, proved him to be right. In 2012, Bishop got caught soliciting campaign donations from a constituent in what seems to be a classic pay-to-play scheme in which Bishop received $10,000 in campaign contributions for helping the constituent obtain a fireworks permit. Even the “nonpartisan” Citizens for the Responsibility and Ethics...

If things were different, Wendy Long would be a household name. She'd be a heroine, and she'd be driving the election season. But Long is the Republican running for Senate in New York, where calculations were made long ago to ensure that Republicans don't win Hillary Clinton's old spot, the old Daniel Patrick Moynihan seat. But such plans don't have to pan out. Long is exactly the kind of woman the Senate needs. A former Supreme Court law clerk, she left private practice at an esteemed firm to build the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative advocacy group. This campaign is...

(Reuters) - A Republican state senator whose vote was crucial to legalizing gay marriage in New York has lost his primary election while a Senate colleague who also broke with the party's stance against same-sex unions narrowly escaped defeat. Senators Roy McDonald and Stephen Saland were among four New York Senate Republicans to cast key votes last year to make New York the most populous U.S. state to allow homosexual marriages. After a count of absentee ballots, McDonald was determined to have lost his race while Saland narrowly won in September 13 primary elections. Mark Grisanti, another Republican senator who...

Republican primary voters in New York punished two incumbents last week who voted to legalize same-sex marriage, firing a potential warning shot nationwide toward GOP lawmakers who could soon face tough votes in their states. Two of the four veteran — and long-secure — Republican senators in New York who voted for same-sex marriage a year ago await counts of absentee ballots as they sweat out the political fight of their lives. A third announced his retirement this year in the face of strong opposition to his gay marriage vote. A fourth won his primary Thursday but only after a...

Republicans and Conservatives looking for a truly pro-family candidate on Primary Day, Thursday, Sept. 13, will vote for Roy McDonald. Sen. McDonald is not only the proven friend of families in our community, he is the No. 1 leader whose dedication and vision have helped our families to a better life. snip As senator, Roy has continued his dedication to the well-being of families, especially by sponsoring and seeing approved major legislation to assist individuals with disabilities. Sen. Roy McDonald has been doing right by our community, our families, for a long time. Let’s keep him on the job.

— A state appeals court rejected a challenge to New York's year-old same-sex marriage law Friday, ruling closed-door negotiations among senators and gay marriage supporters including Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not violate any laws. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in Rochester ruled against gay marriage opponents who argued that Republican state senators violated New York's open meeting rules ahead of the law's passage last year. The marriage law was given final legislative approval by the state Senate after weeks of intensive lobbying and swiftly signed by Cuomo, making New York the largest state to legalize same-sex weddings. Same-sex...

East Shore Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, right, joins Wendy Long at last night's victory party in Manhattan. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Attorney Wendy Long rolled to victory in the state Republican U.S. Senate primary last night, and will face U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Nov. 6 general election. But Rep. Bob Turner looked to be the winner on Staten Island. With 96 percent of the statewide vote counted, according to The Associated Press, Ms. Long had 69,168 votes, good for 51 percent. Turner had 48,429 votes, or 36 percent, while Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos had 18,307 votes,...

(Newser) – Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Delaware hold their Republican primaries today and while many observers have already heard the fat lady sing for Newt Gingrich, there may still be a twist or two left in the race. Gingrich has been spending a lot of time in Delware and he may be able to rally conservatives and jolt Mitt Romney by snatching a surprise primary win like the one Christine O'Donnell scored in 2010, Politico finds. Gingrich—who has had more penguin bites than primary wins since taking Georgia seven weeks ago—needs five wins to get on the...

NEW YORK - Rick Perry, on a two-day swing to raise campaign funds here, also appears to be hoping to rob the Democrats of votes. The Republican presidential candidate is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon in Harlem with Hispanic leaders. Some members of the Hispanic community have been disenchanted with President Obama because he has failed to deliver on his promise to enact a sweeping immigration reform bill. While none of the Republican presidential hopefuls has expressed support for giving some of the estimated 11 million people now living in the U.S. illegally a path to citizenship, Perry has broken...

As disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner, once a major player in New York City politics and a prominent Democratic Party attack dog, enters the X-rated dustbin of history, the question of who will replace him in the state's ninth congressional district now takes center stage. Normally, the only question regarding Gotham congressional races is how left-wing the Democratic victor will be. In anything now regarding Anthony Weiner, the circumstances are hardly normal. On its surface, NY9 is bedrock Democrat. A Republican has not represented any portion of it in decades—and Weiner's predecessor was none other than his mentor, Sen. Chuck Schumer....

(CNN) -- New York's state Assembly Wednesday night approved a same-sex marriage bill, sending it to the Senate, where it faces a closer vote. The Marriage Equality Act passed the Assembly 80-63. It would grant same-sex couples equal rights to marry "as well as hundreds of rights, benefits and protections that are currently limited to married couples of the opposite sex," according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. "This is an immense step toward achieving true equality for all here in New York," said Democratic Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, who argued that he and his partner should be allowed to marry. Wednesday...

ALBANY - Gay marriage moved just one vote shy Tuesday of becoming law in New York as the state's top Catholic raised holy hell trying to stop it. Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga) - in a dramatic reversal from his earlier opposition - became the second GOPer in as many days to give his blessing to same-sex nuptials, bringing Senate support to 31 votes. Thirty two votes are needed to approve a gay marriage bill Gov. Cuomo formally introduced Tuesday. McDonald's change of heart came hours after Archbishop Timothy Dolan led a band of religious groups hustling to halt the momentum....

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- After a second day of a lobbying blitz and propelled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's personal buttonholing of GOP senators, a measure to legalize gay marriage in New York drew to within one vote of passing, with at least two more Republicans still undecided. On Tuesday, a second Republican senator said he would support Cuomo's same-sex marriage bill, less than two years after he was part of a GOP-led defeat of a similar bill that dealt a blow to the national effort to legalize gay marriage.

The NRCC continues its efforts to remind voters in New York’s 26th congressional district that self-proclaimed “Tea Party” candidate Jack Davis is a three-time Democratic U.S. House candidate who endorsed Obama and cheered on Nancy Pelosi’s majority in the House. VIDEO Meanwhile, American Crossroads takes a look at Davis’s record as a candidate and a businessman: VIDEO The special election in this district is May 24.