Although the Republicans had wrested the Democrats’ majority in the United States House of Representatives, they were frustrated at the midterms, the midterm presidential elections, because the expected “red wave” did not materialize that is, a resounding victory in the US House of Representatives and the Resumption of Senate (which remains controlled by President Joe Biden’s party).
However, the American general election had a great consolation for the opposition in a stronghold of the Democrats: The calculation up to the beginning of the night on this Thursday (17) showed that of the 18 seats in the chamber the Republicans took away from the rival party, four were in New York, a traditional blue state (blue state where the democrats always win).
It was the state that saw the most “thefts” of seats on either side during these midterms. In the current legislature, New York has 19 Democratic and eight Republican MPs. In whoever takes office in January, 15 from Biden’s party and 11 from the opposition will represent the state in Washington. Total numbers differ between the two legislatures because New York lost a seat in the House of Representatives after the 2020 census.
The state general election was marred by controversy before it took place because an April state appeals court decision overturned a new division of New York’s electoral districts. The judiciary understood that the new map of Congress in the state favored the Democrats.
“As a result, judicial oversight is needed to facilitate the rapid production of constitutionally appropriate maps for use in the 2022 election and to uphold New Yorkers’ constitutionally protected right to a fair election,” Judge Janet DiFiore wrote in the decision, arguing that the proposed allocation “is essentially unconstitutional because it was designed with an improper partisan purpose”.
For Republicans, the four stolen seats in New York were crucial to regaining control of the House of Representatives, even without a red wave.
“If you look at the map of the United States and consider the concept of the red wave, many of us Republicans are disappointed by the lack of results across the country,” House Representative Nick LaLota told Fox News.
“But if you focus primarily on New York and Long Island, it was possible to see that something different was happening here,” added the congressman, for whom Republican Lee Zeldin’s candidacy for governor (he was replaced by reelected Kathy Hochul defeated) from the Democrat) “mobilized many voters from the suburbs of New York”.
Also, Republican MPelect George Santos, the son of Brazilian immigrants and one of the four “stealers” of the state chairman, commented to Fox News that another factor contributing to the party’s growth in New York was the fatigue of Democrats be.
“What we are witnessing in New York State is that for the first time in five decades in New York City, in Albany, we are being governed by the same party. [capital estadual] and in Washington,” he said. “The people of New York have no one to blame [por seus problemas] except the Democrats.”
Another assessment is that the Democratic Party has lost seat in the New York bank (although it retains a majority) because it did not know how to address key local concerns, such as violence.
“Good night [para os democratas nas midterms] could have been great if New York Democrats hadn’t screwed up the redistribution of boroughs and ignored voter concerns about crime and unsafety,” wrote Howard Wolfson, an adviser to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who was a member of both). parties, but rejoined the Democrats in 2018).
“These mistakes have cost Democrats seats that could have been won in the House of Representatives and wasted millions of dollars that could have been used elsewhere. Time to correct course,” he assessed.