News stories tagged with "election"

(02/28/12) A straw poll taken late last week by North Country tea party activists in Plattsburgh found that roughly two-thirds of participants support Republican congressional candidate Matt Doheny. The Watertown Republican hopes to challenge Congressman Bill Owens next November. more

(12/22/11) One of the biggest issues facing state lawmakers in 2012 is the redrawing of electoral district lines.
New lines are drawn after every U.S. Census and typically reflect the political power structure of the state legislature, bolstering sitting majorities. As Karen DeWitt reports, the topic has been the elephant in the room during much of this year. Gov Andrew Cuomo has repeated threats to veto any lines that are gerrymandered and drawn in a partisan manner. more

(11/09/11) Jeff Graham was reelected to his fifth term as mayor of the city of Watertown last night. The election pitted the incumbent mayor against a longtime rival on the City Council, Jeff Smith. Joanna Richards reports. more

(11/04/11) The mayor's race in Watertown pits long-time incumbent Jeff Graham against a challenger with similar longevity on the City Council, Jeff Smith. Graham has said the city's doing well and he has the experience, knowledge and contacts to continue to keep Watertown on a good track. Smith says his candidacy represents new leadership and a new vision for the city. Both candidates for mayor have years of experience on City Council, and both are small business owners who say they're committed to fiscal discipline. Joanna Richards reports. more

(11/02/11) The election of a county clerk usually doesn't get much attention. The office processes paperwork: passports, pistol permits, mortgages, and vehicle registrations. But this year, people are watching the race for clerk in St. Lawrence County. And the two candidates think that's largely because the office has started making money. Julie Grant reports. more

(09/15/11) While many are portraying the outcome of New York's 9th Congressional district race as a message to President Obama, a New York based pollster and political analyst says it's more complicated than that. Karen DeWitt has more. more

(09/14/11) There is a huge legal and political fight underway over how and where to count prison inmates when it comes time to draw New York State's political boundaries next year.

When Democrats briefly controlled the state Senate, they pushed through a bill requiring that roughly 60,000 prisoners be counted in their home districts.

If a legal challenge doesn't overturn the law, that could strip upstate districts of tens of thousands of people, forcing big changes in the shape of state Senate and Assembly districts.
Martha Foley talks with Brian Mann about why the North Country is vulnerable, and how the process may unfold.

(07/25/11) The race for mayor has begun in Watertown, with two longtime rivals in city government facing off against each other.

The race pits incumbent Jeffrey Graham against city councilman Jeffrey Smith.

Joanna Richards has the story. more

(07/14/11) New York lawmakers have begun the process of reshaping electoral districts following last year's census. Last week, a redistricting task force announced it would ignore a law requiring prison inmates to be counted at their last known address.

That angered civil rights advocates, who argue home districts deserve credit for the prisoners, for electoral representation as well as state aid and services that depend on population. But the change worries North Country representatives whose districts have long counted prisoners where they're incarcerated.

The law passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled both legislative houses and the governor's mansion. The measure has since been challenged in court by nine Republican state senators. Betty Little of Queensbury is a plaintiff in that lawsuit. She isn't commenting on the suit, but she told Chris Morris the loss to her district would be significant, 9,000 to 10,000 people.

(06/10/11) A government reform group is seeking more disclosure by so-called third party interest groups. Common Cause says they're spending more and more to influence public opinion on policy issues like property taxes and school spending.

Common Cause's Sue Lerner says there's a worrisome and growing trend of millions of dollars of television and social media advertising from third party interest groups with what she called misleading names - like the Committee to Save New York, the Alliance for Quality Education and New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness. Martha Foley has more. more