Chris Bragg of The Capitol writes:

“After two election cycles of near misses against Long Island Republican Sen. Kemp Hannon, Nassau County Democrats are turning inwards for their next attempt to defeat the 22-year incumbent.

Ryan Cronin, a young attorney who is the former executive director of the Nassau County Democratic Party, confirmed he will run against Hannon in the Western Nassau district, which currently has a slight Democratic enrollment advantage.

Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic Party—who doubles as the Nassau Democratic chairman—said he believes Cronin, a contract resolution attorney at the top Manhattan law firm Blank Rome, will be able to raise significant money for his campaign.”

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Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union writes:

“It was unexpected: Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown finally, tepidly, during a rally with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, endorsed fellow Democrat Mark Poloncarz for Erie County executive four days before the election.

Matt Rey wasted no time. From his perch at the back of the UAW hall here, he marked the time on his tape recorder with Brown’s words, and within a day they were looping over hip-hop, blasting from sound trucks that roamed inner-city Buffalo neighborhoods in which the mayor’s support was key. Voter turnout there was heavier than expected, and helped Poloncarz to his 53 percent to 47 percent win against incumbent Republican Chris Collins.

Solid work to boot. But Rey wasn’t employed by the Poloncarz campaign: He worked for a coalition of labor unions that was running its own secondary campaign on his behalf. The groups spent $400,000 during the last six weeks of Poloncarz’s successful bid to oust Republican Chris Collins, according to people involved in their effort.

Known as “independent expenditures,” this spending by outside entities has long been legal but is becoming more common in campaigns around the state. It doesn’t need to be officially disclosed until early next month, but the $400,000 in spending came on top of direct contributions by unions to Poloncarz’s campaign committee — $56,500 in the final week alone.”

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The Business Council of New York State, Inc. today released its 2011 Voters’ Guide, which measures New York State legislators’ commitment to improving the state’s economic climate and performance by scoring their support for key business legislation during the 2011 session. All 212 seats will be up for re-election in 2012, and this scorecard provides a mid-term report on legislative actions. The Business Council will be using its combined 2011-2012 rankings in making endorsements in next year’s elections.

“With Governor Cuomo’s leadership, and a responsive legislature, we saw real fiscal reform, spending restraint, and progress on economic development initiatives,” said Heather Briccetti, acting-president and CEO of The Business Council. “However, there were still several anti-growth bills that came to the floor in 2011. Our Voters’ Guide will help give New Yorkers a clearer view of which legislators are truly committed to making our state’s economy more competitive.”

Senators and Assembly members were rated for their stance on 11 two-house bills considered by The Business Council to have a significant impact, either positive or negative, on New York’s economic climate. The real property tax cap, Medicaid spending reductions and program reforms in the budget, Article X siting legislation, Recharge New York and an improved Excelsior Jobs Program - all the subject of vigorous advocacy efforts by The Business Council - were signed into law this year and included on the scorecard.

To read the full release click here.

For the scorecard click here.

Colin Gustafson of lohud.com writes:

“Assemblyman Mike Spano declared victory in the race for mayor of Westchester’s biggest city Tuesday night after a bruising three-way contest.

The Democrat bested Republican City Councilman John Murtagh by a significant margin, according to unofficial Board of Elections results. Independence Party candidate Carlo Calvi ran a distant third.

“This is a new Yonkers, this is a new day for our city,” said Spano. “We are going to bring economic prosperity to this community.”

“We said from the beginning of this campaign that we were going to run a positive race,” Spano later said. “There was too much discourse, there was too much backbiting, there was too much assassination of character. …. (But) in Yonkers the people were looking for a positive voice.”

Spano, who ran on the Democratic, Working Families and Conservative lines, replaces term-limited Republican Mayor Phil Amicone.”

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Chris Bragg of The Capitol writes:

“Several local Democrats running with strong backing from Gov. Andrew Cuomo pulled off victories last night, a sign of the governor’s growing political clout and perhaps of how the Occupy Wall Street message filtered down to some key local races in an otherwise anemic election year.

But some said it was too early to call the string of Democratic victories spanning New York state part of a larger trend in what has proven to be a topsy-turvy political year: After Democrats won an upstate congressional race in a Republican district this spring, Republicans picked up a big win in a Democratic seat in New York City this fall.

Still, Democrats involved in Democrat Mark Poloncarz’s surprisingly strong victory over incumbent Republican Erie County Executive Chris Collins say the result shows a clear shift.”

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Chris Bragg of The Capitol writes on some of the hotly-contested races in New York State:

“The main drama in the race to replace Western New York Assemblyman Jim Hayes is whether Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb can hang onto a 51st Assembly seat that gave his conference the ability to block a veto override. Kolb recently threatened to use this power to block an extension of the so-called millionaire’s tax.

The district, which is primarily based in the town of Amherst, has high Democratic enrollment, but has traditionally leaned Republican in its elected officials. Having the Erie County executive’s race at the top of the ticket may draw up turnout for Democrat Craig Bucki, running against another attorney, Republican Raymond Walter.”

To read the entire article click here.

This is part of an article by Thomas Kaplan that appeared in the City Room section of the New York Times website.

“The State Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, has faced ample criticism over his opposition to an income-tax surcharge on high-earning New Yorkers.

His latest adversary: the actor Alec Baldwin, who on Wednesday engaged in something of a Twitter feud with Mr. Skelos over the merits of the so-called millionaires’ tax.

Their quarrel began on Tuesday, when Mr. Skelos, a Long Island Republican, appeared on a public radio program, “The Capitol Pressroom.” As he has for months, Mr. Skelos insisted that continuing the surcharge would hurt the state’s economy and compel wealthy residents to move elsewhere. (Mr. Skelos counts among his allies on the issue the state’s Democratic governor, Andrew M. Cuomo.)”

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According to an article on the News 10 WTEN website:

“Democrats held on for wins in all six special elections for state Assembly seats vacated by Democratic incumbents.

In races Tuesday, according to unofficial results:

- Phillip Goldfeder defeated Jane Deacy for the Queens seat vacated by Audrey Pheffer.

- Michael Simanowitz defeated Marco Desena for the Queens seat vacated by Nettie Mayersohn.

- Dan Quart defeated Paul Niehaus in the Manhattan district vacated by Jonathan Bing.

- Anthony Brindisi defeated Gregory Johnson in the Utica-area seat vacated by RoAnn Destito.

- Sean Ryan defeated Sean Kipp in the Buffalo-area seat vacated by Sam Hoyt.

- Rafael Espinal Jr. defeated Jesus Gonzalez and Deirdra Towns for the Kings County seat vacated by Towns’ brother, Darryl.

Democrats hold a commanding majority in the 150-seat Assembly.”

Please click here for the original story.

The Associated Press reports - “Democratic leaders have chosen a state Assemblyman from Queens as their candidate to replace Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned last month after a sexting scandal.

Assemblyman David Weprin will compete for the 9th district Congressional seat in a special election Sept. 13.

Weprin - who lives in Holliswood, a few blocks outside of the district he hopes to represent - was a City Councilman for eight years and former finance chairman.

Weprin’s brother Mark is a City Councilman and their late father, Saul, was a legendary Assembly speaker.”

Rebuke Seen to Medicare Plan

Raymond Hernandez writes in the New York Times - “Democrats scored an upset in one of New York’s most conservative Congressional districts on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the national Republican Party in a race that largely turned on the party’s plan to overhaul Medicare.

The results set off elation among Democrats and soul-searching among Republicans, who questioned whether they should rethink their party’s commitment to the Medicare plan, which appears to have become a liability heading into the 2012 elections.”

To read more click here.