Local republican leaders and even some Democratic officials unhappy with move to even-year cycle starting in 2025
CAPITAL REGION – Local party leaders and elected officials are split on whether Gov. Kathy Hochul signing a bill to move most local elections to even years is good politics or partisan politics. At least two top local Democrats spurned the move to even-year elections because they share Republican concerns that the move will dilute interest in local election issues.
On the cusp of the Christmas holiday on Dec. 22, Hochul in a statement accompanying the signing of the bill, said the move, which was sponsored by two Democratic legislators, will “expand access to the ballot box and promote a more inclusive democracy.”
The law, which will become effective in 2025, requires most town and county elections to be held in even-numbered years to sync with state and national election schedules. Elections for town justices, and county offices of sheriff, county clerk, district attorney, family court judge, county court judge, surrogate court judge, or any other offices with a three-year term prior to Jan. 1, 2025 shall continue to be held in odd years. Individuals elected after that date would have terms shortened to match up with an even-year election cycle.
Supporters state that the change will increase voter turnout, election efficiency and realize cost savings.
“More participation and getting more people involved means more eyes on government, and that is a good thing,” said Colonie Democratic Committee Chair Ryan Horstmyer.
However, many of the law’s opponents – mostly Republicans and a few Democrats – don’t believe the move will achieve those purposes. Republicans firmly believe it is being done to tip the electoral scales in favor of Democratic candidates.
“It’s a terrible idea,” said Bethlehem Republican Committee Chair James McGaughan. “It’s motivated by the Democrats wanting to win as many elections as possible. There is a 2-to-1 advantage that Democrats have in registration so higher turnout means Democrats are more likely to win elections.”
Albany County legislator Frank Mauriello, a Republican, wrote in a statement that it was state Democratic politicians who pushed for the change.
“It won’t increase voter participation because of ballot drop-off. It won’t save taxpayer money because there will still be races in odd years,” he continued. “Yet once again, Gov. Hochul and the state Democrats are ignoring these facts to put their own political party interests first.”
Jim Carriero, former Bethlehem Republican Committee Chair, said he believed Democrats are trying to gain a political advantage by changing the election cycle.
“Historically, Republicans tend to do better in off-year elections,” he said. “The majority party is taking advantage of their power and putting through the changes they want to maintain control. It helps them because turnouts are so much larger when a national election is held.”
Bethlehem Town Supervisor David VanLuven disagreed.
“I don’t understand how increased access to voting tilts the polls in anyone’s favor,” he said. “More people voting is what we want.”
Bethlehem Democratic Committee Chair and recently elected Chair of the Albany County Legislature Joanne Cunningham said there are plenty of jurisdictions upstate where Republicans control local elections.
“Conceptually, it may be a big benefit for the Democrats, but it also increases turnout for Republicans when they are excited about a candidate at the gubernatorial or other level and can work to the advantage of either party,” Cunningham said. “[They] haven’t been running great candidates lately.”
McGaughan said it comes down to voter registration.
“Registration is what matters,” he said. “It’s a question of what percentage each party gets. Ninety percent of voters on both sides will vote for their party.”
Albany County Republican Chair Randy Bashwinger called the move a “bad idea” and is suspicious of the motivation behind it, however, he doesn’t think it is game over for Republicans.
“I don’t see it as being a benefit to either side, but if the Democrats came up with it, it probably is a benefit in their mind … like with redistricting,” he said.
Albany County Democratic Committee Chair Jake Crawford, who opposed the bill, thinks the move may be counterproductive for Democrats in other counties that are heavily Republican.
“This bill will make it harder for rural Democrats to be elected in even years as the state becomes increasingly partisan,” he said. “People are voting more along party lines so where Republicans outnumber Democrats, like in some rural counties, it may make it harder for Democrats to get elected.”
The numbers
Traditionally, elections yield lower voter turnout when no presidential, senate or statewide race is on the ballot. In Albany County, there are currently 200,107 registered voters according to New York State Board of Elections records. In the November 2023 general election, only 62,834 voters cast a ballot in Albany County’s 96 local races. In contrast, the November 2022 election, which featured races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, senator and state Supreme Court justice, yielded 117,951 votes.
In a county, such as Albany, that is predominantly Democratic – 99,415 registered Democrats versus 35,603 Registered republicans – the concern is that more Democratic voters will be voting on election days and dilute the Republican vote.
“Some state legislators think this move will increase Democratic turnout in their districts, but I don’t think this is true in Albany County. There is no issue about party control in Albany County because we do significantly well in every year on every ballot,” Crawford said.
Some Republicans stood firm and said that the governor announcing the signing of the legislation at 6 p.m. the Friday before Christmas, gives fuel to their argument.
Timing of the bill
“They have taken away an opportunity for the minority to have an impact on local elections,” said Carriero. “Otherwise, it would not have been done in this fashion in the late hours of the year on Christmas Eve. It just doesn’t feel right.”
Cunningham said she will give the governor the benefit of the doubt on timing because she was doing her full due diligence with her staff regarding whether the law made sense or could be operational.
But McGaughan, who did not hear about the change in law until several days after it was announced, concurred with Carriero.
“Most people, if clear headed about the merits of the argument, would agree that moving local elections to even years is not a good idea,” he said. “When we do this on a Friday afternoon before a holiday, it comes and goes without much discussion or debate.”
Horstmyer called that argument “cynical” and “unfortunate.”
“I would ask them [Republicans] why they don’t want my fellow Democrats voting in local races. The answer is obvious,” he said.
Motivation to Vote
“It boils down to how motivated, how enthusiastic is the electorate to get out to vote,” Cunningham said. “If it is for the Democrats, it’s because of the party issues and positions on the ballot are motivating people to vote.”
Opponents of the change, including some Democrats, worry that holding local elections alongside national and state elections will diminish voter attention on local issues.
“It drowns out local issues with the hysteria of social media [around national elections],” said McGaughan. “Politics is better when it is locally focused, when local issues are at the center.”
Also calling the move a “bad idea” Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey. He said it’s “wrongheaded” and “smothers” local elections and issues.
“How is a local issue able to live in that darkness?” he asked.
Colonie Republican Committee Chair George Scaringe concurred.
“You don’t have a chance to promote your local candidates because the state and feds spend millions of dollars on advertising candidates, and we can’t compete with that,” he said.
The cost to advertise, especially on electronic platforms skyrockets based on demand, which prices out local campaigns.
“Because the federal races will buy up all the air time, we won’t be able to afford it because the races will be geared to federal races where millions are spent, which will add to the challenge of getting our message out,” Crummey said.
Mauriello said that the new law would make property taxes, roads and other local issues with a direct impact on voters’ lives mere footnotes to races for president, governor and other major offices.
“I expect there will be less interest in town issues and more interest in national issues,” said Carriero.
Not all Democrats disagree. Crawford voiced the same concern.
“When the election year is dedicated to town elections, the voters are ready and willing to discuss local issues,” he said. “It will be harder for local candidates to discuss local issues in a federal year.”
While Albany County Board of Elections’ Democratic Commissioner Kathleen Donovan does not believe changing the election cycle will “tilt elections in favor of Democrats,” she warned that it could cause voter fatigue.
“When you have the main elected officials being the president, senator, people will start to drop off when it comes to local offices,” she said.
Albany County Elections Commissioners unite
Donovan and her Republican counterpart, Rachel Bledi, submitted a bi-partisan letter of opposition to the governor.
“People have the most stake in local elections where the government is the closest to the people,” Bledi said. “This will dilute their voice and diminish the importance of the issues they care about.”
Cunningham said local issues are the reason people vote.
“They want to talk about the issues that impact them at home,” she said. “People won’t lose sight of that even if candidates for president or governor are on the ballot.”
Horstmyer dismissed the argument that moving elections to even years will cause ballot confusion.
“The act of voting is a pretty simple choice,” he said. “Even if there are five candidates, it’s not like filling out a tax form. These are the same voters we expect a lot of in other circumstances.”
VanLuven said diminishing voter interest in local issues, at least in Bethlehem, is not an issue.
“People will engage on the level they are interested in engaging in,” he said. “It is not drowning out other voices, and Bethlehem residents are able to think about multiple issues at the same time fairly successfully.”
The cost and longer ballots
Opponents of the law also dispute the notion that it will result in taxpayer savings. Donovan pointed out that county district attorney and sheriff still run in odd years.
“I don’t see there being a cost savings to the state, at least until 2030,” Donovan said. “It’s because we still have to run elections in odd years anyway, and still have to print ballots, move machines around, hire poll workers and pay for poll sites.”
She said there are 62 district attorneys, 57 sheriffs and county clerks, 364 elected Supreme Court justices, 129 elected county court judges, 64 elected surrogate’s court judges, together with town justices, family court judges, and 103 other local offices that will still run on odd years.
Bledi, calling the change a disaster waiting to happen, said it costs about $1.5 million to run an election across Albany County in an election year.
“Because we still have odd-year elections and still have to pay for inspectors, polling places, services to the voting machines and increased cost of printing more ballots, there is no cost savings or consolidation. Nothing changes,” she said. “This is another unfunded mandate from the state.”
Donovan said a two-page ballot would increase paper costs.
Bashwinger also voiced concerns about longer ballots.
“You could have 20 races in one year and a ballot that is two pages wide or need a whole separate ballot,” he said.
Cunningham said she believes the change makes sense from an efficiency standpoint.
“From my standpoint as someone running a local Democratic committee, the election process at the local level is a continuous cycle every year, so from my standpoint, I am supportive of the idea that we have to sync the system up to make it more efficient and better,” she said.
She also recognized that some incumbents may have to run a year earlier to get the “cycle sync” in place, but she hasn’t heard a lot of complaining.
“These are people willing to suffer in the short term to get more synchronized in the long term,” she said.
VanLuven agreed that running for an extra term would be “a lot of work,”but it is something he’d be happy to do because he loves his job as supervisor.
“If I need to run for a one-year term and then after that have to do another campaign, I would do that with a smile on my face,” he said.
Bledi said there is currently some “confusion” about running cycles, and she is waiting for direction from the State Board of Elections as to who has to run when.
Actual design of the ballots
“Our current machines can handle only 19-inch ballots. If we add six to eight offices, we have to be redesigning the ballot for the machines that are out there,” Donovan said.
She also warned that if there is larger voter turnout, the state will probably need more days of early voting and that “there could be longer lines to vote.”
Calling it a “logistical nightmare,” Bledi agreed.
“We are asking voters to review multiple ballots. This will increase wait time. It will increase the time for inspector due diligence to make sure two ballots are being handed out,” she said. “This is unnecessarily complicating what should be a very basic process.”
At the bill signing, Gov. Hochul also announced her support for a future amendment to the New York State Constitution that would move elections for all offices to even-numbered years.
“This is a meaningful first step, and I would support a constitutional amendment to align all election years to save taxpayer dollars and avoid voter fatigue,” she said in her statement.
Crawford, who opposed the bill that was signed, said he would support a constitutional amendment.
“If we are going to even-year elections, then we need to move to even years for all elections,” he said.
The Republicans interviewed for this article said they would not support a constitutional amendment moving all elections held within New York State to even years.
“If the governor really believed all races should be on one ballot, she would have vetoed the bill, requested a constitutional amendment and let the voters decide,” said Crummey.
Donovan, on the Democratic side, is against a constitutional amendment.
“If it comes to a constitutional amendment for all elections to be moved to even years, vote no,” Donovan said. “Contact your legislators and let them know how you feel about it.”
Cunningham said she was still looking into arguments for and against a constitutional amendment.
The only area where everyone interviewed appeared to agree is the likelihood of a court challenge.
“The move conflicts with charters across the state with races to go on the ballot in certain years,” said Bledi.
Scaringe said he expects the challenge to come from the Republican Party or “a good government group.” “
I hope it is defeated in court,” he said. “If not, we will fight on. That’s what we do.”
This story was featured on page 1 of the January 17th , 2024 print edition of the Spotlight