Free Republic

..... Party leaders from across the state, looking to avoid a potential civil war, have been rallying around Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island — a Donald Trump-loving conservative who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and has fought ardently to oppose abortion rights. Other contenders look much the same and include upstate firebrand Rep. Elise Stefanik and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s son, Andrew Giuliani. Both are also backers of Trump, who lost the state by some 2 million votes last year. The dynamics are not the result of choice or strategy but rather environment....

In the aftermath of last week’s devastating losses for Republicans in the state Senate, as well as losing three House seats in New York, some in the party have begun calling for a change in leadership in both the state Senate and in the state GOP. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday the conference is discussing leadership changes after last week’s election, while The Buffalo News reported yesterday of mounting calls for new statewide party leadership. But changing leadership just for the sake of having someone new may not be the best path forward for the party, and laying the...

I read the state GOP Chairman's note on the GOP NYS website and it was pathetic. Ed Cox and the counties lost The NYS Senate for the first time in I don't know how long, decades. This election leaves Andy Cuomo in the Governor seat and control of BOTH Houses. Add to this we lost Assembly seats that should have been won, John Faso in NY-19 is one of them. You, the county Chairmen elect the State GOP Leader. You are continuing to support Ed Cox and his record is PATHETIC. As leaders you are called on to move the...

Donald Trump has won the backing of a legendary New York Republican — who also blasted his own state party’s failure to rally behind the candidacy of its “favorite son’’ presidential hopeful. “You have in Donald Trump a tremendous New York businessman with thousands of employees, a man who helped remake Manhattan for the better, and one who was always there with a contribution when we needed him to back us,” former state GOP Chairman Bill Powers told The Post. Powers said he feared Trump was already angry enough at the New York GOP that if he becomes president he’ll...

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.

ALBANY — The state Senate will return to Republican control in January. A judge on Saturday certified a result that showed a Long Island Republican won a key seat in the Nov. 2 election, meaning the GOP will have at least a 32-30 edge over Democrats when the Senate’s new session starts next month. (A pending recount in Westchester County could give the GOP a 33-29 majority.) The result gives Republicans their only power base in a state where Democrats hold the Assembly and the three statewide offices: governor, comptroller and attorney general. The final tally in the Long Island...

What on Earth Happened to the New York GOP? A dozen years ago Republicans dominated state politics. It doesn't appear they'll be a factor this fall. SEPTEMBER 18, 2010 By JOHN FUND New York Almost every state in the nation features a competitive race for governor or the Senate this fall. But not New York. Though Republicans are running for governor and both U.S. Senate seats—one to fill Hillary Clinton's unexpired term—polls show none have much of a chance of winning. A dozen years ago, Republicans held a majority of New York's statewide elected offices and controlled the state Senate....

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Inside an Elks' lodge here in the heart of middle-class Long Island, a crowd of 150 Tea Party members erupted into thunderous applause over the weekend when Carl P. Paladino, the resurgent Republican candidate for governor, outlined his plan to tame New York’s entrenched political class. “I’m taking a baseball bat to Albany with me,” he told them, setting off shouts of “God bless you!” and “Go get ’em!” But on the eve of the Republican primary, members of the state’s anxious party establishment... --snip-- “If Carl Paladino wins this thing, it will cause severe damage —...

English novelist George Eliot once penned the following: "Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress." Albert Einstein famously quipped, "insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  There are more than a few famous quotes on the destructive nature inherent in the repetition of foolish behavior. What is to be said for the way in which the Republican Party is actively pursuing a repeat of last November's special election for NY's 23rd Congressional District? If you were outraged at Dede Scozzafava, wait until you see their latest candidate, Matt Doheny. It...

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Republicans have chosen former Congressman Rick Lazio (LAH'-zee-oh) as their candidate for governor. The party endorsed the Long Islander on Wednesday at its convention in New York City.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki announced Wednesday the creation of a national organization that will work to repeal the Democrats' health care overhaul, which he called a "horrific" and costly bungle. Pataki said his nonprofit group, Revere America, will develop a grassroots network and highlight national opposition to the health care law, which he believes will impose a $500 billion burden on U.S. taxpayers and tighten government control of the health care system

New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand remains in a vulnerable position in her bid for a full Senate term in New York even though no viable Republican running against her. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the Empire State finds Gillibrand earning just 40% support, while an unnamed generic Republican candidate picks up 39%. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate, and 14% are undecided.

New York voters apparently are fed up with their state legislators. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of New York voters finds that 69% think it would be better if most incumbents in the state legislature were defeated this November. Just 12% say it would be better for the state if most of the incumbents were reelected. Another 18% aren’t sure. As the legislature continues to wrangle with the governor over the state’s sizable budget deficit, 80% of male voters think New York would be better off if most incumbents were defeated, a view shared by just 61% of women...

It sounds like a joke to say that isn't not fair to call William the Red a "pot-smoking, hippy"... to hippies. But it's not. Many hippies actually distrust Big Government/Big Fascism, bearing an oft-forgotten libertarian streak. But former Massachusetts Governor William the Red loves Big Fascism. How outrageously leftist is Weld? The Republican Senate pretty much rubber-stamped anyone Clinton nominated, but not Weld. The Massachusetts Democrats opposed him by flanking him to the right. He appointed the brother of fugitive crime boss Whitey Bulger to run the state university system. As leftist as his politics are, he is no 'man...

In an unwelcome bit of news for the GOP, New York governor David Paterson has announced that he would not call a special election to fill the House seat left vacant by former Democratic Rep. Eric Massa. Massa resigned last month amid in ethics investigation into accusations that he sexually harassed male members of his staff and subsequently acknowledged groping a staffer non-sexually. Paterson had initially vowed to call a special election to replace Massa before the midterm elections in November. But his spokeswoman said that the embattled Democratic governor would not do so, citing the cost to taxpayers in...

STATEMENT ATTRIBUTED TO MICHAEL CAPUTO CAMPAIGN MANAGER PALADINO FOR THE PEOPLE March 20, 2010 Carl Paladino is deeply disappointed in the Conservative Party for not having the courtesy to allow us to compete in what turns out not to be a democratic process. It’s a shame that a personality conflict between Ed Cox and Mike Long has forced the Conservative Party to choose a weak candidate who’s a certain loser and who doesn’t support key tenets of the Party platform. Today’s endorsement of pro-abortion banking lobbyist Rick Lazio for governor may mean the end of the Conservative Party. The Paladino...

The New York Republican Party, no stranger to controversy in the past year, has a new internal battle brewing over its gubernatorial nominee that could lead to a New York-23 like split for the GOP. Rick Lazio, the former Long Island Congressman who unsuccessfully challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2000 U.S. Senate race, appeared well on his way to securing the nomination. Endorsements included former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki, as well as a slew of county chairmen and local officials. But others in the party, said to be concerned over what is described as...

Encouraged by state and national Republican Party leaders, Dan Senor, an author, private equity executive and Defense Department adviser in the last Bush administration, is seriously considering a political challenge against Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, according to three people told of the discussions. Mr. Senor, 38, who is married to the CNN anchorwoman Campbell Brown, is expected to decide in the next month whether to run. The discussions between Mr. Senor and the Republican leaders reflect their dissatisfaction with the existing field of Republican candidates in the state and their consensus that Ms. Gillibrand remains vulnerable to a challenger in...

Dean Murray, Tea Party activist, has been elected to the New York state assembly! According to Fox News: The Tea Party followers can boast about their first elected official. Dean Murray, a 45-year-old Long Island, N.Y., businessman who organized Tea Party protests, will be sworn in as the new Republican state assemblyman representing Long Island's eastern 3rd Assembly District on Monday, after being certified the winner of a special election held last Tuesday. Murray beat his Democratic opponent 51% to 49%, and is believed to be the first Tea Party organizer who has attained public office. The district had been...

Downtown developer Carl P. Paladino, who is nearing a decision on whether to run for governor this year, said Monday that if he enters the contest, it will be as a candidate for the Republican nomination. Paladino, who earlier this month said “tea party” activists are urging him to run on an independent line, now says his best option lies in a challenge to presumptive Republican nominee Rick Lazio, the former Long Island congressman. “If we’re going to do it, that’s the way,” he said. “I’ve ruled out all these other options.” Paladino, who had been a Democrat for many...