Republicans are looking to make inroads in New York’s Democratic-dominated state Senate, which includes running strong Asian-American candidates in NYC districts.
It won’t be easy in a presidential year, given the huge Democratic enrollment advantage and an expected heavier turnout than in off-presidential election years.
Still, the Republicans have made inroads recently in the state Assembly in southern Brooklyn and even picked up a City Council seat in The Bronx for the first time in 40 years as voters protest the Democratic Party’s leftward tilt and controversy over high-rise development.
The state Senate, where Democrats currently occupy 42 of 63 seats, has been a tougher nut for the GOP to crack in recent years.
Among the races to watch:
- Southern Brooklyn’s 17th District [Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Sunset Park]
Retired NYPD sergeant and US marine Steven Chan is challenging first-term Democratic incumbent Iwen Chu, who won her seat in a close race two years ago in a newly formed heavily Asian district.
“Our candidate Steve Chan is in a tight race with the freshman Democrat Senator Iwen Chu. Seventy six percent of respondents either have not heard of Iwen Chu or have not formed an opinion,” Senate Republican Campaign Committee chairman George Borello said.
- District 11 in Queens [College Point, Whitestone, Douglaston, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hills, Bellerose Manor and parts of Bay Terrace, Astoria, Oakland Gardens and Jamaica Hills]
Yiatin Chu, the Republican-Conservative nominee, is the founder of the Asian-Wave Alliance that champions merit-based education, including preserving entrance standards at specialized high schools as well as school choice. She is challenging 85-year-old Sen. Toby Stavisky, a 24-year Democratic incumbent who chairs the higher education committee.
Stavisky, whose husband previously served in the Senate, is heavily favored. A source close to the Senate Democrats say Stavisky’s seat is safe but the harsh attacks they’ve leveled against Chu indicate they’re taking her seriously in a district that has become increasingly Asian.
- District 23 in northern Staten Island/southern Brooklyn
First-term Democratic Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, faces off against Republican Marko Kepi, a US marine and a native of Albania.
The island’s North Shore is heavily Democratic, giving Scarcella-Spanton a clear advantage. She also has substantially raised more funds than Kepi, who was embroiled in a ballot harvesting scandal during a previous run for City Council.
But a Brooklyn Democratic insider cautioned that Kepi is making inroads in the borough’s more conservative areas such as Brighton Beach and parts of Coney Island.
There are also competitive Senate races outside the Big Apple:
- District 40 [Westchester/Putnam/Rockland]
Democrat incumbent Peter Harckham is running for a fourth term in a rematch against Republican Gina Arena, who garnered 47% of the vote two years ago.
Arena, an advocate for people with disabilities, has made her opposition to Proposition 1 a major issue in her campaign. Harckham supports it.
Harckham also supports congestion pricing, while Arena is opposed.
- In the Albany region, the retirement of Sen. Neil Breslin has set off a battle to replace him.
Democrat Assemblywoman Pat Fahy is seeking a move to the upper chamber, facing off against Republican Ted Danz, the owner of a local HVAC company.
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Republicans insist they have a shot at stealing the seat.
“Pat Fahy has stood by her support for the disastrous cashless bail laws she voted in favor of. Even when fellow elected Democrats in Albany like Sheriff Craig Apple and the DA David Soares have spoken out on how it has created a crime crisis in the capitol region,” Borello said.
- District 50 in the Syracuse region
This is an open seat that state Sen. John Mannion, the Democratic nominee for Congress, will vacate at year’s end.
Mannion won re-election in 2022 by just 10 votes.
Republican Nick Paro, the Salina town supervisor, faces off against Democrat Chris Ryan, an Onondaga County legislator.
Paro got a boost last week, earning the endorsement of Syracuse.com, the major news outlet in the region.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, insist they’re running two strong candidates on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley who could topple well-established Republican incumbents.
Republican Jack Martins is running for reelection in District 7 covering Long Island’s North Shore. He faces off against Kim Keiserman, a Port Washington activist and former teacher.
Martins, a former mayor of Mineola, served a previous stint in the Senate from 2011 to 2017.
In the 39th District in Dutchess and Orange counties, Republican incumbent Rob Rolison faces off against Democrat Yveette Valdes.
Rolison is a former mayor of Poughkeepsie. Valdes is the Democratic minority leader of the Dutchess County Legislature and a former teacher.