(UnitedVoice.com) – The latest elections were disappointing for Republicans across much of the US, with the loss of the Virginia state House to the Democrats being the most obvious low point. It wasn’t all bad news, though. The GOP has quietly been eating away at liberal dominance of New York for a while, and it continued that process last Tuesday.
On November 7, Ed Romaine, the Republican candidate for Suffolk County’s executive position, managed to pull in 56% of the vote and solidly defeat his Democratic opponent, David Calone. On its own, that isn’t huge, but there are two points that make it more significant than it might seem at first. One is that he’s the first Republican to win that seat in 20 years. The other is that the GOP now holds every countywide seat in Suffolk and Nassau Counties, giving it solid control of eastern Long Island.
Another winner on November 7 was Sue Serino, who secured the executive seat in Dutchess County. Dutchess also has a GOP majority in the county legislature. On top of that, it also holds all four congressional seats.
The media first picked up on Long Island’s red wave in 2021, when Republicans gained several positions, including Nassau County’s executive and district attorney. That was the start of it. The November 7 election took it a step further. The region is now out of step with the rest of New York, which remains solidly blue, but the state’s Republicans have just had a big shot in the arm. If they can succeed in New York with the right candidates, upsetting what seemed to be safe Democratic seats, there’s no reason they can’t succeed in other states, too.
In the meantime, excited Conservatives are calling Long Island “a Republican bastion.” With the Democrats’ open border policies and soft approach to policing dragging New York into chaos, that bastion has the potential to get a lot bigger.
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