The anti-Democrat, anti-incumbent, throw-the-bums-out mood that was reported across the nation never caught on in Queens. The Tea Party had little or no impact even in the most conservative districts of the borough.
It is not surprising voters helped elect native son Andrew Cuomo as the state’s next governor. What is surprising is that anyone voted for his Neanderthal opponent.
The people of Queens also voted for state Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan) to succeed Cuomo as the state’s attorney general and, in a closer race, helped elect Long Island state Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, another Democrat, as the state comptroller.
In western Queens, all of the seated Democrats in the Assembly won re-election. In the Senate, incumbent Joseph Addabbo Jr. was re-elected despite the support his opponent got from former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki. The Democrats did equally well in other races for the Senate.
The five Democratic incumbents representing Queens in Congress easily won re-election. And the two Democrats representing New York in the U.S. Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, were voted back in landslides.
Like the rest of the nation, the people of western Queens feel overtaxed and are frightened by the 10 percent jobless rate and the large number of home foreclosures. They want better schools even when the state is cutting funds for public education and they want be certain that their tax dollars are used wisely.
They did not buy the Tea Party malarkey that the problems of the state and the nation can be blamed on one political party.
We hope these winners will not take your votes for granted. Their challenge in the coming year will be to go beyond partisan loyalty and forge coalitions that will get the state and nation back on track. We wish them great success.
Hail and Farewell
An era has come to an end in Queens. State Sen. Frank Padavan, who has represented the 11th District for 38 years, was defeated by former City Councilman Tony Avella in one of the state’s closest elections.
TimesLedger Newspapers thanks Padavan for nearly four decades of service, and we congratulate Avella and wish him well.
