Voters go to the polls tomorrow in what promises to be pivotal elec tions — for the state and the nation. At stake nationally is control of Congress and America’s direction. For New York, the issues are Albany corruption, dysfunction — and, frankly, keeping the state solvent.
Races for top state offices and seats in the Legislature will decide whether voters want more of the same in Albany — or, finally, a clean slate.
The choice statewide is reflected most vividly in the fight for attorney general — in which Democratic Sen. Eric Schneiderman is facing Republican Staten Island DA Dan Donovan.
The Post has endorsed Donovan.
Schneiderman is up to his eyeballs in ethical questions — well beyond his membership in the corruptocracy that runs the state Senate. Exhibit No. 1: the Aqueduct racino deal, which Inspector General Joseph Fisch recently blasted.
Fisch didn’t slam Schneiderman per se. But he did cite fellow Senate leaders, like John Sampson, for trying to steer the deal to favored bidder AEG.
As Donovan puts it, either Schnei derman knew about the deal and did nothing — or he was asleep.
Either way, it’s inexcusable.
His AEG ties also extend to one of his aides, who’s married to a lobbyist for the firm — and to his ex-wife, Jennifer Cunningham, who works with another AEG lobbyist on behalf of the company that ultimately got the deal.
Oh, and Cunningham, who’s linked to the health-care union, also serves as a top aide in Schneiderman’s campaign. Think he’ll be tough on mischief by unions and other Cunningham clients?
Right.
The race for comptroller offers a similar choice: Incumbent Tom DiNapoli is a product of 20 years in the dysfunctional Legislature. He got his job in an inside deal arranged by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Questions swirl about pay-to-play shenanigans at the Comptroller’s Office. And some 90 percent of DiNapoli’s campaign donations come from unions, lobbyists, law firms and other special interests.
His rival, financial expert Harry Wilson, is a whistle-clean Albany outsider who couldn’t be better suited for the job. The Post, obviously, endorsed Wilson.
The choice for governor is different. In that race, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is up against an angry, volatile Republican businessman, Carl Paladino, who spent the campaign displaying his lack of fitness for high office.
Cuomo, by contrast, has offered a raft of ideas — capping property taxes, freezing union wages, slicing state agencies — that show he understands the state’s huge fiscal woes. The Post endorsed Cuomo.
Whether he’ll be able to overpower the many enemies he’ll make, particularly in the Legislature, remains to be seen.
But that’s another reason why state legislative races matter so much this year. True, Democratic control of the Assembly isn’t at great risk, though any GOP gains there could weaken Silver’s corrupting iron-fist rule. The Senate, though, is in play; Dems hold a slim 32-29 edge.
New Yorkers could improve the cli mate markedly by backing enough GOPers to shift the balance in the Senate. That would help restore a two-party system of governance and give the new gov broader political options. It would also sweep from power the tainted bandits now in charge of the Legislature’s upper chamber.
To that end, The Post has backed nine GOPers for Senate: Bob Cohen, Liam McLaughlin, Greg Ball and Scott Vanderhoef in Westchester, Putnam and Orange, Frank Padavan and Anthony Como in Queens, Lee Zeldin and Kemp Hannon on Long Island, and Steve Saland in Dutchess and Columbia.
This lot can help stem Senate corruption and dysfunction, clamp down on runaway spending and onerous taxes and stand up to special interests.
We’re also backing a Democrat for re-election: Sen. Craig Johnson of Nassau.
Johnson proved himself a principled pol when he defied Dem bosses and the teachers union and backed charter schools. He deserves to be returned.
On the national front, New York can help flip Congress over to Republi cans — who are vowing to work for Americans, rather than the other way around.
Voters should start by backing ex-Rep. Joe DioGuardi for US Senate over unelected incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand — if only because he’d provide some contrast with Sen. Chuck Schumer.
DioGuardi is known for fiscal conservatism — something Washington definitely can use. Gillibrand is a serial flip-flopper who acts as Schumer’s puppet.
In the House, we’ve endorsed six GOP hopefuls: Randy Altschuler in Suffolk, Chris Gibson in Poughkeepsie/Saratoga, Nan Hayworth in the Hudson Valley, Michael Grimm on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, Matt Doheny in the North Country, and Tom Reed in Alleghany/Corning/Elmira.
We’ve also noted that Harlem voters can send a strong message to ethically challenged Rep. Charlie Rangel by backing a former New York Jet, the Rev. Michael Faulkner.
In Connecticut’s US Senate race, fiscally conservative, socially moderate GOPer Linda McMahon has earned voter support over liberal pol Dick Blumenthal, who disgraced himself with lies about having served in Vietnam. We backed McMahon.
Since Dems claimed both Congress andthe White House in 2008, the nation has veered hard to the left. They ran up trillions in new debt, grew government and created havoc with health care — while failing to do much for the economy.
Voters can hold pols accountable tomorrow by backing the choices above.
Here’s hoping they do.