Out of the lockbox, Part 2
If 2006 was the breakout year for North Country politics (see argument here), 2008 was the year we learned there was no going back.
It was possible, of course, that Kirsten Gillibrand’s victory in the 20th congressional district race was a fluke.
Her opponent, John Sweeney, had imploded with personal and political scandals. (In 2009, he was indicted on felony DWI charges.)
The GOP mounted a major effort to retake the seat, led by former state party chairman and Essex County mainstay Sandy Treadwell.
But Gillibrand didn’t just survive the challenge.
She walked away from Treadwell, despite the fact that he was scandal-free, centrist and could largely self-fund his campaign.
If that wasn’t proof enough that the Dems could compete on what had been hostile territory, Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine mounted a campaign for the 48th district state senate seat.
Senator Jim Wright retired, obviously confident that the GOP could hold a seat on the western flank of the North Country.
Indeed, the special election — against Republican Will Barclay — offered a clear and straight-forward test, with both parties pouring money and staff into the race.
It also illustrated how the region’s politics have moved to the center of the state and national debate.
Aubertine’s eventual victory in one of the nastiest and most expensive races ever seen in the region, helped to erase the GOP’s four-decade long dominance of the state Senate.
A final thought about 2008. Democratic victories that year reflected the party’s new willingness to recruit candidates who are moderate and even conservative on key issues.
Sen. Aubertine is one of the key figures in New York state blocking the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Clearly, the era of nominating candidates with distinctly progressive positions, but no track record getting elected is over, as we’ll see in the next installment.
Later today: Beyond our control — how the election of Barack Obama and the implosion of Eliot Spitzer contributed to the North Country’s changing political scene.
