City endorsements

It is an important, and troubling, election year. Voters’
focus has been principally on the presidential campaign, but there are Senate,
Congressional, state, and local offices on the November 2 ballot as well.

            In nearly
all of these races, the campaign season has been starkly different from that of
the Bush-Kerry campaign: quiet, with few issues and little tension and
suspense.

            In far too
many races, either the incumbent has no challenger or the district votes so
heavily Republican or Democratic that the challenger faces almost
insurmountable odds. In large part, that’s the result of gerrymandering, thanks
to the inexcusable system of letting political parties, rather than nonpartisan
groups, establish district boundaries.

            But the
lopsidedness is also a reflection of an increasingly divided community and
state, with urban areas voting heavily Democratic and the suburbs heavily
Republican.

            For our
endorsements, we focus on two contested offices —the 131st district of the
State Assembly and the 29th district Congressional seat — and an important,
interesting Rochester race, for school board.

School board:

Domingo Garcia

In the City of Rochester, the real election is the
Democratic primary. Democratic voters so outnumber Republicans that the
Republican Party seldom fields a full slate of candidates. Latino community
leader Domingo Garcia was appointed to the board last year to fill an unexpired
term, but party infighting resulted in the Democratic Committee’s failing to
nominate him for a full term. Garcia waged a primary battle and won and will
now likely continue to hold his seat.

            The Green
Party’s David Atias is a bright, concerned candidate and might make a good
board member. (Our interview with him is in our October 13 issue,
www.rochester-citynews.com.) Like many non-incumbents, Atias sometimes focuses
on simplistic approaches to complex problems (although he hasn’t analyzed the
budget, he says he’s sure there’s waste). But he’s right in his opposition to
standardized testing, something the Fairport school district has courageously
fought.

            Garcia,
however, is a strong board member (our interview: September 1,
www.rochester-citynews.com), and we don’t see a compelling reason to replace
him with Atias. It is crucial that Rochester’s growing Latino community be
represented on the school board, and Garcia is currently the only
representative. The Democratic Committee made a serious mistake in failing to
back him.

State Assembly:

Susan John

The public has grown increasingly frustrated with New York’s
state government (“furious” might be a more accurate word). The habitually late
state budget, followed by a damning report on the way the way the legislature
operates brought that frustration to a head this year. The Democrat and Chronicle has gone so far as to refuse to endorse in
any of the state races.

            Some voters
seem convinced that the solution to state government’s problems is to throw out
all of the incumbents. That wouldn’t fix things. The system is rigged, with the
complicity of both major political parties, and it will take more than fresh
blood to change it. It will require campaign finance reform. It will require legislators’
letting a non-partisan committee draw the district boundaries. (For a
discussion of Albany’s problems and possible solutions, see our interview with
former State Senator Rick Dollinger, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” August
11; www.rochester-citynews.com).

            In one of
the few hotly contested state races, Democratic incumbent Susan John faces
Republican Mike Slattery, who lost to her two years ago by less than 1000
votes. It’s important that John be returned to Albany. No one legislator can work
miracles, especially in New York, but John is an exceptionally capable, bright
member of the assembly.

            Voters who
favor the death penalty or oppose abortion rights won’t support John. Slattery
has traditional conservative views; John is a rock-solid, eloquent liberal.
John is also a person of intense integrity, risking voters’ wrath by sticking
to her principles — and by refusing to adopt simplistic approaches to complex
problems. (Coverage of this race is on page 9 of this issue.)

            John’s
experience and hard work have won endorsements from a wide range of
constituents, including the conservative political action committee of the
Rochester Business Alliance and the AFL-CIO. We add our endorsement
enthusiastically.

US Congress:

Samara Barend

In this race, as in the John-Slattery race, there are clear
differences between the two candidates. Republican Randy Kuhl is an experienced
state legislator who is certainly qualified to serve in Congress. His opponent,
27-year-old Samara Barend, has never held political office.

            Voters may
fail to look beyond youth and political experience and choose Kuhl by default.
If voters want to add another voice to what is becoming a large conservative
choir in Washington, they should vote for Kuhl.

            But this is
an important seat, currently held by a highly respected moderate Republican,
Amo Houghton of Corning, who has voted against his party’s leadership on some
important issues. If Kuhl is elected, Congress will have one more anti-choice
member, one more supporter of the Bush administration’s war in Iraq, one more
member promoting a strong, conservative agenda.

            Barend is
an impressive, articulate candidate who has already established a record of
community activism and leadership. (Our coverage of the two candidates is on page
8 of this issue.) She discusses the regional economy, US trade policy, the
federal deficit, Medicaid, and health-care reform intelligently. On foreign
policy she, like John Kerry, supports building alliances. Unlike Kerry, she
would have voted against the war in Iraq.

            Amo
Houghton will be sorely missed in Washington. Barend, not Kuhl, should replace
him.

This article appears in Oct 20-26, 2004.