2017 Special Election Elected 56 – 44
Before addressing additional candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates, here is an interesting special election in New York –– for the New York State Assembly. This election is not so important in and of itself. Democrats have overwhelming control of the Assembly.
The election may be important, however, for its implication for the 2018 New York Senate elections. The New York Senate is controlled by a coalition of Republicans, a maverick Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans, and the Independent Democratic Conference of eight Democrats who caucus independent of the Democrats and often vote with Republicans. If Democrats are to gain control of the Senate, they will need to defeat members of the Independent Democratic Conference in primaries and defeat Republicans in Senate Districts that may resemble Assembly District 09.
In Assembly District 09, registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats three to two. There are about as many registered independents as there are registered Democrats. Christine Pellegrino http://pellegrinoforassembly.com/ is competing for the open seat in Assembly District 09. Can Pellegrino win the special election scheduled for May 23?
A victory here would be a signal that New York Senate Republicans and IDCers as well as some New York Congressional Republicans could be vulnerable in 2018.
Christine Pellegrino is a reading teacher. She was a Bernie Sanders delegate to the national convention and has been an activist on behalf of those who did not want to take the state school assessment tests.
This is a contest between educators who are political opposites. A Bernie supporter versus a Conservative Party candidate. Pellebrino’s opponent, a girls basketball coach for a BOCES, is a registered Conservative. New York’s Conservative Party is state-wide and New York allows candidates to be endorsed by political parties other than their own and for the votes to be totaled across parties. There is no Republican in the race. The Republicans have endorsed the Conservative candidate.
Christine Pellegrino is a proponent of women’s rights, the $15 per hour minimum wage, campaign finance reform, and protecting the environment. Interestingly, her opponent says as little as possible about his political positions in his public statements. Instead he argues for more teamwork in Albany, He lets his Conservative Party membership speak for what he believes in.
Let’s speak for what we believe in and help an underdog candidate, Christine Pellegrino http://pellegrinoforassembly.com/.
Let’s help demonstrate that a Democrat can win in a Republican district in New York at a time when many New Yorkers are dismayed by the Republican Party and its President.
