< NY > Albany (H-110)

It seems like it's raining special elections lately, the way vacancies keep appearing in state legislatures across the country. Now it looks like New York's 110th district of the General Assembly will have a special election.

Dominos Falling Upwards

President Obama tapped former Senator Clinton to become Secretary of State. That led to Governor Paterson selecting former Congresswoman Gillibrand to replace her.

Now James Tedisco, the Minority Leader of the NY General Assembly, is running for the Congressional seat that Senator Gillibrand is leaving behind. And that, in turn, creates a brand new vacancy in the NY state legislature.

Perhaps they should call it "Trickle Up" economics, since everyone's attention is on the politicians who are climbing the career ladder. Then there is the added media buzz about who might become the next Minority Leader. Inquiring minds want to know.

We call it an opportunity. That's because our attention is on the candidates coming into the legislative pipeline. Get good people into the legislature, and eventually good things happen. On the flip side, it's "garbage in, garbage out." We get the government we deserve and, frankly, we deserve better.

Ask a Bill Sponsor

I'll search the New York legislative website to see if there have been any recent bills to end the helmet law. Something tells me I won't find much, given how the State of New York seems to be pestering bikers to no end. But if we somehow find at least one biker-friendly legislator in the house, that's a start. It sure helps to have friends in high places.

The next step would be to find out if this biker-friendly legislator wants to endorse a candidate for General Assembly District 110. This district is upstate, around the north side of Albany. Special elections are low-turnout events, so again the party line voters are the key.

Whichever candidate can get out the party faithful is the likely winner. And that means campaign volunteers will be the most valuable commodity in the state. Looking at our map of Campaign Volunteers in and around New York, we just might have another opportunity to get one step closer to majority support for helmet law repeal.

And don't forget the special election in Boston. We just might see some healthy and productive competition between these traditional rivals.

New York Legislature Blogs

>> 02/01/09: NY Update
>> 01/27/09: NY Special Election