Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

As we mentioned earlier this week, the announcement by former New York City Mayor and Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani that he would not run was a devastating blow to the Republicans who are now expected to lose both the gubernatorial and Senate elections because they do not have any viable candidates.

Rudy Giuliani’s departure from the race before it even began shows a side of the GOP that is often unnoticed, the fact that the Party has just a handful of prominent candidates (none of which actually win major elections) and not much else.

In New York, the most prominent ...continue reading]]>

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

As we mentioned earlier this week, the announcement by former New York City Mayor and Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani that he would not run was a devastating blow to the Republicans who are now expected to lose both the gubernatorial and Senate elections because they do not have any viable candidates.

Rudy Giuliani’s departure from the race before it even began shows a side of the GOP that is often unnoticed, the fact that the Party has just a handful of prominent candidates (none of which actually win major elections) and not much else.

In New York, the most prominent Republican in the Gubernatorial election is Rick Lazio, a former Congressman who once replaced Rudy Giuliani in his Senate race against Hillary Clinton in 2000 and lost.

Lazio will have to face either incumbent Governor David Paterson (who has universal name recognition in the state whereas Lazio doesn’t) or, more likely, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (the son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo) who won his statewide election by almost 20% in 2006.

In the Senate race, Kirsten Gillibrand appeared to be one of the weakest Democrats going into the midterm elections but not actually has a legitimate chance to win, assuming that she doesn’t have a serious challenge in the Democratic primaries.

The list of earlier potential challengers for Gillibrand’s seat has unknown former State Senator Michael Balboni, largely unknown Nassau County legislator Bruce Blakeman, and Elizabeth Feld, the mayor of the village of Larchmont.