Election Reflections: karma kickback, shattered truisms, where's Gillibrand?

The final vote count is not yet in, but there is no doubt that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Lee Zeldin for governor while Nassau Republicans triumphed over Nassau Democrats at the polls.

Some sidelights:

Karma Kickback

Lame duck Democratic State Sen. James Gaughran barely squeaked past Senate rules to pump out taxpayer-paid publicity for fellow Democrats, State Sens. Anna Kaplan and John Brooks, in July.

Gaughran, of Northport, decided to retire after he was redrawn out of his District 5 senate seat. Kaplan of Great Neck and Brooks of Seaford decided to run again even though their district lines were changed.

So Gaughran used his Senate office mail budget to promote Kaplan and Brooks by sending a mailing 30 days before the Democratic primary despite Senate rules that ban government mailings 30 days before an election. Kaplan faced a primary challenge

The mailing ostensibly was for a good cause but its most prominent features were the photos of Gaughran, Kaplan and Brooks, with their names headlined in bold-faced print.

Now, all three are lame ducks. Kaplan lost to Republican Jack Martins, a former state senator, and Brooks to Republican Steve Rhoads, a Nassau county legislator.

It could be considered karma kickback for blatantly skirting senate rules.

More karma perhaps is reflected in the downfall of crypto-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who today was begging for billions of dollars to stave off bankruptcy, following the collapse of FTX, his cryptocurrency exchange, according to CNBC.

Sam Bankman-Fried (from CNBC)

A super PAC, largely funded by Bankman-Freid, sunk close to $1 million into commercials for Congressional campaigns of Nassau Legis. Josh Lafazan and former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, during the Democratic primary, Newsday reported.

Lafazan lost the primary; Gillen just lost her bid for the 4th Congressional district to Republican Anthony D'Esposito, a Hempstead Town Board member and retired New York City police detective.

The Wall Street Journal reports Bankman-Fried spent $40 million on Democratic candidates during the midterms.

D'Esposito mocking Gillen?

From Newsday debate

The quotes seem strangely similar:

Who said which one? D'Esposito or Gillen?

"Together we motivated thousands of Long Islanders to make their voices heard, to stand up for common sense leadership, and to vigorously defend fundamental rights from assault."

Then this:

"Neighbors of all backgrounds and party affiliations believed in my common sense campaign and in our shared vision of a prosperous safe and free America."

The first one was tweeted by Laura Gillen after her loss to D'Esposito. 

The second quote came later from D'Esposito in his victory statement.

Shattered Truisms

There had been decades of unquestioned truths going into this mid-term election:

Voters vote their pocket book. Put more succinctly by political consultant James Carville for the Bill Clinton presidential election, "Its the economy, stupid."

It was understood that incumbents get kicked out when the economy goes south.

Law and order is embraced by voters during periods of rising crime.

And it was understood that social issues, particularly womens' issues, do not decide elections.

Well, Tuesday altered those perceptions.

Like Democrats nationally, Hochul campaigned primarily on abortion rights while Zeldin, like Republicans across the country,  campaigned against crime.

Exit poll interviews across the country found that inflation was the top concern for voters, but abortion rights were a close second.

One truism, however, still holds at least in Nassau County.

Before the election, Democrats will warn of voter intimidation at the polls that has never been confirmed after the election.

This year, both Nassau's Democratic legislative leader Kevan Abrahams and Nassau's Democratic Elections commissioner James Scheuerman asked for more police protection at the polls citing reports that "extemist groups" were intimidating voters. They provided no evidence or any details.

Kevan Abrahams

Once again,  the election passed with no confirmed reports of intimidation.

It's almost like Abrahams and Scheuerman were the ones trying to instill fear in voters.

Jay Jacobs controversial again

The election is not yet official but already some Democrats are demanding that state and Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs resign because of Democratic losses in the state; primarily of four Congressional seats, including the 4th District seat lost by Laura Gillen.

But Jacobs was actually somewhat prescient.

He told Newsday in March that he didn't think Gillen would prevail. He said the former  Hempstead Supervisor "would have a very tough time winning in this Cngressional seat, given what I know about the voters and the opposition that she would have." 

"As she told me, this was a dream of hers since she was a little girl," Jacobs said of Gillen's interest in the 4th District race.""I'm not here to help people with their dreams," Jacobs said. "I'm here to elect Democrats" Newsday reported.

Those comments led Democrat U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, who is giving up the 4th District seat, to question Jacobs' leadership back then. But Rice and Jacobs had been at odds for years.

And Jacobs holds very strong ace: Hochul

Jacobs was an early backer of Hochul, issuing a strong statement of support within days after she inherited the governor's job from Andrew Cuomo. Jacobs quickly followed his support statement with endorsement. His move angered many in the party, who also demanded he resign as state party chairman. But Hochul went on to raise record amount of donations.

And most important, she won.

Where's Gillibrand?

The Democratic party brought out its VIP's to support Hochul, who faced a strong challenge from Zeldin: 

Hillary and Bill Clinton appeared with Hochul, former President Obama cut a radio commercial for her; President Joe Biden stood with her as did Vice President Kamala Harris. Of course, the ubiquitous U.S. Senator and Majority Leader Charles Schumer was often at her side.

But where was U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand? She also is a Democrat. And a U.S. Senator from New York, for goodness sake.

She was nowhere to be seen.

Kirsten Gillibrand