Elect Renzi

Tuesday brings an end to nearly a year of nonstop political campaigning for New York senator to represent the 48th District. Voters will be relieved when the votes are counted and local politics will return to an amusing afterthought instead of a blood sport.

However, it is the aftermath of this election which should be so important for the Senate district which includes all of Oswego and Jefferson counties and part of St. Lawrence County. Until February of this year, our district has been part of the political action in Albany. When Darrel J. Aubertine won the seat held for years by James W. Wright, R-Watertown, the north country lost a voice in the majority.

Since his election, Sen. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, has been on the outside of the political mainstream, and any efforts to move legislation forward to assist a variety of communities in the district has languished. There has been plenty of finger-pointing as to why this happened. Certain majority party politics played a role.

But the lesson is clear — the district lost influence in Albany.

New York state will be best represented if Republicans and Democrats divide the houses of the Legislature, thus providing a natural balance of power which will prevent either side from excessive political action.

The political reality of today in New York is that upstate interests are the domain of Republicans and downstate interests are dominated by Democrats. To have both houses of the Legislature controlled by the same party is unhealthy.

North country interests depend upon a broad and inclusive view of New York. We have quite a few state prisons here. Each prison provides hundreds of high-paying jobs which support so many Northern New York families. However, there is a continuous call by Democrats to close prisons and move prisoners closer to the city.

In addition, downstate interests lust for the electric power generated at Massena as they ignore the jobs which that power supports. Our dairy industry depends upon a regulatory atmosphere which makes milk production profitable.

Unfortunately, downstate interests repeatedly treat us as rubes and promote change which will hurt the north country. We will continue to be challenged if our senator belongs to a caucus whose primary interests are contrary to ours.

It is simple to argue we will prosper if Democrats win a majority in the Senate and our senator is a Democrat. Such a view is flawed and one only has to examine how effective Mr. Aubertine was in the majority party while an assemblyman. He worked hard, but his interests and the interests of the Assembly district were not priorities with the leaders of the majority party caucus.

David A. Renzi will help maintain a Republican majority in the Senate. He will be an effective voice on the floor where he will respond quickly to the political chaff which emerges daily in Albany. And if he is in the minority, he will be an effective member of a caucus which shares our north country values and interests.

Mr. Renzi knows the community well. He ardently defends transparency, he is well connected with political leaders in each county, he understands the needs to build coalitions and does not flinch when under pressure.

Mr. Aubertine is an honorable politician who has demonstrated he cannot match wits with his party colleagues who are intent on gutting many of the institutions we depend upon.

We recommend David Renzi's election to the Senate.