I grew up on Long Island in Hewlett (Nassau) and my dad grew up in Syosset (Nassau). I have been urging media to cover the political landscape on Long Island for years -- it is an extremely complex area. I am a lawyer and have witnessed firsthand the joke that is the justice system in New York. While judges are "elected," voters are not …
I grew up on Long Island in Hewlett (Nassau) and my dad grew up in Syosset (Nassau). I have been urging media to cover the political landscape on Long Island for years -- it is an extremely complex area. I am a lawyer and have witnessed firsthand the joke that is the justice system in New York. While judges are "elected," voters are not presented with a choice. A judicial candidate cannot simply enter the race -- years of dedicated cronyism is literally a prerequisite (as it is in NYC). For federal and state legislative and executive elections, it is vital to consider that New York is a power-sharing state for all intents and purposes -- meaning, the two parties do not actually have many differences when it comes to policy. The corruption runs deep within both parties. The elected leaders on Long Island exist on a separate plane from the people who live here. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat, was my representative for several years. In 2020 or 2021, she voted "no" on a bill that would have lowered prescription drug costs. I still have her responses to my emails on the topic, both of which merely bash the GOP. Of course, it isn't coincidence that she received PAC money from pharmaceutical companies. I also still have the emails that the head of the NYS Democratic Party sent in 2020 following gains in the state legislature by Democratic Socialists -- you would think they were sent by the GOP. In short, like this country, Long Island has been a one-party region for as long as I can recall. It is a party of deeply ingrained corruption and crime. This is not limited to Long Island -- one only need look to India Walton's election in Buffalo, which she won, only to be overtaken by the state Democratic Party in the general election, wherein they apparently disapproved of voters' primary choice and reran their preferred corporate candidate as a write-in (who did win).
I am 34 years old and cannot speak to NYS and Long Island politics before a certain point. However, my dad is of the mindset -- he has lived here for his entire life. Moreover, my mother's uncle was the chairman of the NYS Commission of Investigation in the 1960s and 70s. I have read and saved all reports and reporting on their findings, which did include elected officials on Long Island. For context, the Commission investigated Fred Trump as part of a major investigation into NYC government corruption. Despite the Commission's extensive findings of criminal activity, it cannot be said that any action was taken to prevent the Trump family from continuing to benefit from their ties to the powers that be. If you look at the history of the Commission, up to and including the Moreland Commission, there is a glaring trend of the state defunding the Commission -- the only semblance of governmental check that I am aware of.
Long Island cannot be viewed as an electoral democracy to the extent that the party in power represents the actual political leanings of its citizenship -- we have never been presented with a choice. Even when a candidate running on change does manage to slip through the cracks, the NYS Democratic Party has and will continue to make sure that candidate does not succeed. There is no local independent media to speak of, which has opened to the door to decades of unchecked corporate propaganda from both parties. There is a New Yorker profile from 2020 about then-County Executive Laura Curran's "successful" response to Covid in Nassau County, a piece that one would expect to run on Fox News had she been a Republican. I find it difficult to imagine a future for Long Island where voters actually have a say in who is on their ballot and who is ultimately elected without major structural changes that the official Democratic Party is not willing to accept.
Are these issues particularly acute on Long Island, though? What social or geographic factors particular to Long Island would result in particularly undemocratic governance? I ask because these issues seem to be widespread - people often talk about national politics in exactly the same terms.
(Also, minorly, I'd aver that someone winning a write-in campaign is pretty strong evidence that voters genuinely prefer them...winning as a write-in is a tall order no matter how much state-party backing or funding one has.)
I can't speak to anywhere other than Long Island and NYC, as those are the only two places I have lived and worked. I certainly don't think this is unique issue -- I just personally have not read or otherwise heard about local/state government as deeply and openly corrupt as I have witnessed here. The issue about the write-in campaign was that India Walton ran as a Democrat in the Democratic primary, and despite fierce opposition from the incumbent and the establishment, she did win. I don't discredit the incumbent's ultimate victory -- I did find the Democratic Party's push to run a different candidate than the one who won the primary (something I have never seen before).
I’m a Long Islander too, born and bred and back after a lengthy stint in NYC. My perspective is that we’re largely happy with our representation, both of the republican and democrat flavors. Too much corruption, sure, but even Mangano was well liked.
Sometimes the lack of alternative candidates and media is the result of suppression by entrenched interests; sometimes it’s because the population isn’t particularly enamored with the alternative ideas in question. Long Island, I think, is the later. Turning Red, definitely. But Trumpism is pretty muted. So is the presence of “in this house we believe” types. Both are present and welcome though. Not a lot of political tension here.
What's so fascinating about Long Island is how different one end (Queens) is from the other (deep Suffolk County). I have not experienced much of Suffolk but often go there for work. From what I've seen, especially and expectedly in the more impoverished areas, there is a huge "Trumpian" population. On the other hand, the Republicans in office in Nassau County, as well as the people that vote for them, are Republican for economic reasons only. As Lisanne mentions below, these Republicans are old school moderates -- I grew up around a lot of people who cared solely about their own personal wealth and maintaining it at all costs. I totally agree with you about the general lack of interest or participation in local politics. There is little to no interest or media coverage of local elections (e.g., George Santos), and I think that's because our leadership operates pretty secretly and without much public controversy. Since it is a "power-sharing" state, we have existed in a quasi-auto pilot political landscape for decades -- nothing really changes. I do think that national politics has brought out the deep-seeded economic inequality that exists here started to radicalize the right once Trump was elected. As a leftist, I have witnessed surges in organizing and significant (relatively speaking) gains in the state legislature. It will be very interesting to see where the political landscape goes from here because I strongly believe the old guard is becoming irrelevant.
I'd love for you guys to send some of those moderate Republicans to us here in New York City. You should see the freaks and jokers the Republicans put up in opposition to the establishment Democrats. They haven't been able to win with second-rate candidates, so they've given up, and now the freaks are all they've got to keep the ballot line warm. I'm a liberal Democrat and am dying for an alternative, just to try to enforce some semblance of accountability on the corrupt Brooklyn machine politicians that run Albany (badly) on behalf of everyone else in the state.
Simple. Bloomberg is a (highly competent) corporate Democrat who paid the sad-sack local Republican Party to use their ballot line, so he wouldn't have to face a Democratic primary.
Exactly! It certainly seems like NY politicians function more like a corporate one-party state than actual representatives of voters. The emails I have received from the NYS Democratic Party bashing the leftist wing of their own party contain more vitriol and stark political opposition than anything I've witnessed between the two parties. Ultimately, I think the AOC defeat of Crowley will prove to be a major turning point in NYS politics because it brought the forefront the fact that the Democratic Party does not walk the walk.
It is truly wild how impactful the Brooklyn Democratic machine has been over the entire state's political landscape and history. The leaders and participants of this machine were a large focus of the State's Investigatory Commission work during the 60s and 70s. People like Abe Beame and Bunny Lindenbaum played major roles in Trump's rise to power. Most of my cases have been in Brooklyn Supreme Court (the trial court) and there is a lawyer's lounge (a decrepit room with a table) where the Democratic machinery is in full force, at least when it comes to the judiciary. Needless to say, I have become quite disillusioned with the justice system.
It's noteworthy that this same political machine has control of the leadership of both Assembly and Senate in Albany, and that they are gerrymandered in so tight that the local red wave in the last election didn't make a dent in their supermajority. The Congressional map was drawn by a special master, and guess what? Some Republicans won! Accountability! Imagine that!
I grew up on Long Island in Hewlett (Nassau) and my dad grew up in Syosset (Nassau). I have been urging media to cover the political landscape on Long Island for years -- it is an extremely complex area. I am a lawyer and have witnessed firsthand the joke that is the justice system in New York. While judges are "elected," voters are not presented with a choice. A judicial candidate cannot simply enter the race -- years of dedicated cronyism is literally a prerequisite (as it is in NYC). For federal and state legislative and executive elections, it is vital to consider that New York is a power-sharing state for all intents and purposes -- meaning, the two parties do not actually have many differences when it comes to policy. The corruption runs deep within both parties. The elected leaders on Long Island exist on a separate plane from the people who live here. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat, was my representative for several years. In 2020 or 2021, she voted "no" on a bill that would have lowered prescription drug costs. I still have her responses to my emails on the topic, both of which merely bash the GOP. Of course, it isn't coincidence that she received PAC money from pharmaceutical companies. I also still have the emails that the head of the NYS Democratic Party sent in 2020 following gains in the state legislature by Democratic Socialists -- you would think they were sent by the GOP. In short, like this country, Long Island has been a one-party region for as long as I can recall. It is a party of deeply ingrained corruption and crime. This is not limited to Long Island -- one only need look to India Walton's election in Buffalo, which she won, only to be overtaken by the state Democratic Party in the general election, wherein they apparently disapproved of voters' primary choice and reran their preferred corporate candidate as a write-in (who did win).
I am 34 years old and cannot speak to NYS and Long Island politics before a certain point. However, my dad is of the mindset -- he has lived here for his entire life. Moreover, my mother's uncle was the chairman of the NYS Commission of Investigation in the 1960s and 70s. I have read and saved all reports and reporting on their findings, which did include elected officials on Long Island. For context, the Commission investigated Fred Trump as part of a major investigation into NYC government corruption. Despite the Commission's extensive findings of criminal activity, it cannot be said that any action was taken to prevent the Trump family from continuing to benefit from their ties to the powers that be. If you look at the history of the Commission, up to and including the Moreland Commission, there is a glaring trend of the state defunding the Commission -- the only semblance of governmental check that I am aware of.
Long Island cannot be viewed as an electoral democracy to the extent that the party in power represents the actual political leanings of its citizenship -- we have never been presented with a choice. Even when a candidate running on change does manage to slip through the cracks, the NYS Democratic Party has and will continue to make sure that candidate does not succeed. There is no local independent media to speak of, which has opened to the door to decades of unchecked corporate propaganda from both parties. There is a New Yorker profile from 2020 about then-County Executive Laura Curran's "successful" response to Covid in Nassau County, a piece that one would expect to run on Fox News had she been a Republican. I find it difficult to imagine a future for Long Island where voters actually have a say in who is on their ballot and who is ultimately elected without major structural changes that the official Democratic Party is not willing to accept.
Are these issues particularly acute on Long Island, though? What social or geographic factors particular to Long Island would result in particularly undemocratic governance? I ask because these issues seem to be widespread - people often talk about national politics in exactly the same terms.
(Also, minorly, I'd aver that someone winning a write-in campaign is pretty strong evidence that voters genuinely prefer them...winning as a write-in is a tall order no matter how much state-party backing or funding one has.)
Just for further clarification, this piece basically expresses more clearly why it is my impression that these issues are particularly acute on LI -- https://medium.com/the-long-island-advocate/a-tale-of-two-communities-housing-segregation-on-long-island-1bc2f710483c
I can't speak to anywhere other than Long Island and NYC, as those are the only two places I have lived and worked. I certainly don't think this is unique issue -- I just personally have not read or otherwise heard about local/state government as deeply and openly corrupt as I have witnessed here. The issue about the write-in campaign was that India Walton ran as a Democrat in the Democratic primary, and despite fierce opposition from the incumbent and the establishment, she did win. I don't discredit the incumbent's ultimate victory -- I did find the Democratic Party's push to run a different candidate than the one who won the primary (something I have never seen before).
I’m a Long Islander too, born and bred and back after a lengthy stint in NYC. My perspective is that we’re largely happy with our representation, both of the republican and democrat flavors. Too much corruption, sure, but even Mangano was well liked.
Sometimes the lack of alternative candidates and media is the result of suppression by entrenched interests; sometimes it’s because the population isn’t particularly enamored with the alternative ideas in question. Long Island, I think, is the later. Turning Red, definitely. But Trumpism is pretty muted. So is the presence of “in this house we believe” types. Both are present and welcome though. Not a lot of political tension here.
What's so fascinating about Long Island is how different one end (Queens) is from the other (deep Suffolk County). I have not experienced much of Suffolk but often go there for work. From what I've seen, especially and expectedly in the more impoverished areas, there is a huge "Trumpian" population. On the other hand, the Republicans in office in Nassau County, as well as the people that vote for them, are Republican for economic reasons only. As Lisanne mentions below, these Republicans are old school moderates -- I grew up around a lot of people who cared solely about their own personal wealth and maintaining it at all costs. I totally agree with you about the general lack of interest or participation in local politics. There is little to no interest or media coverage of local elections (e.g., George Santos), and I think that's because our leadership operates pretty secretly and without much public controversy. Since it is a "power-sharing" state, we have existed in a quasi-auto pilot political landscape for decades -- nothing really changes. I do think that national politics has brought out the deep-seeded economic inequality that exists here started to radicalize the right once Trump was elected. As a leftist, I have witnessed surges in organizing and significant (relatively speaking) gains in the state legislature. It will be very interesting to see where the political landscape goes from here because I strongly believe the old guard is becoming irrelevant.
I'd love for you guys to send some of those moderate Republicans to us here in New York City. You should see the freaks and jokers the Republicans put up in opposition to the establishment Democrats. They haven't been able to win with second-rate candidates, so they've given up, and now the freaks are all they've got to keep the ballot line warm. I'm a liberal Democrat and am dying for an alternative, just to try to enforce some semblance of accountability on the corrupt Brooklyn machine politicians that run Albany (badly) on behalf of everyone else in the state.
Also worth mentioning is how meaningless party affiliation is when it comes to NYC mayor -- for instance, wtf is Bloomberg?
Simple. Bloomberg is a (highly competent) corporate Democrat who paid the sad-sack local Republican Party to use their ballot line, so he wouldn't have to face a Democratic primary.
Exactly! It certainly seems like NY politicians function more like a corporate one-party state than actual representatives of voters. The emails I have received from the NYS Democratic Party bashing the leftist wing of their own party contain more vitriol and stark political opposition than anything I've witnessed between the two parties. Ultimately, I think the AOC defeat of Crowley will prove to be a major turning point in NYS politics because it brought the forefront the fact that the Democratic Party does not walk the walk.
It is truly wild how impactful the Brooklyn Democratic machine has been over the entire state's political landscape and history. The leaders and participants of this machine were a large focus of the State's Investigatory Commission work during the 60s and 70s. People like Abe Beame and Bunny Lindenbaum played major roles in Trump's rise to power. Most of my cases have been in Brooklyn Supreme Court (the trial court) and there is a lawyer's lounge (a decrepit room with a table) where the Democratic machinery is in full force, at least when it comes to the judiciary. Needless to say, I have become quite disillusioned with the justice system.
It's noteworthy that this same political machine has control of the leadership of both Assembly and Senate in Albany, and that they are gerrymandered in so tight that the local red wave in the last election didn't make a dent in their supermajority. The Congressional map was drawn by a special master, and guess what? Some Republicans won! Accountability! Imagine that!
Yup! I cannot find where I posted this but just in case it wasn't in response to one of your comments I want to highly rec this book https://www.amazon.com/Three-Men-Room-Betrayal-Statehouse/dp/1595580328
I put it in my reading list. Thanks!