One-Party Rule

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun
NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

For those millions of New Yorkers not registered with the Democratic Party, tomorrow is a disheartening day. While registered Democrats line up at the polls to select their party’s candidates in the culmination of lively, contested primaries, Republicans and those not enrolled in any party won’t have any elections of consequence to decide.


The contrast is remarkable. For district attorney of Manhattan, there is a race between Democrats Robert Morgenthau, whom the Sun has endorsed, and Leslie Crocker Snyder. No Republican is running for the job. It appears that no Republican is challenging the city comptroller, William Thompson, either. For public advocate, four Democrats – Betsy Gotbaum, Norman Siegel, Andrew Rasiej, and Jay Golub – are mounting credible campaigns, while the Republican candidate, reportedly named Daniel Maio, has been a non-factor. The Sun has endorsed Mr. Golub.


For district attorney of Kings County, the Democratic primary between Charles Hynes, Mark Peters, John Sampson, and Arnold Kriss will decide who holds the office; Republicans have no primary and have offered but a token challenger. For mayor, Democrats have four candidates to choose from in a primary, while Republicans have just one, Mayor Bloomberg. For president of Manhattan, Democrats have at least eight prominent candidates to choose from, while Republicans are fielding just one contender. Republicans are fielding candidates in only five of the 10 Manhattan districts of the City Council, according to the Web site of the New York County Republican Party.


Attempts to open up this system under the banner of “nonpartisan elections” have been soundly rejected by the voters. Some healthy competition is starting to get under way in the Republican Party at the statewide level, where Edward Cox, Jeanine Pirro, and John Spencer are fighting for the chance to take on Senator Clinton in 2006, and Randy Daniels, William Weld, and others are preparing a contest for the nomination for the party’s nomination for governor in 2006.


All the more disappointing, then, is the dearth of contested Republican primaries in New York City tomorrow. Especially so because the party claims to support free markets and competition. The message the current situation sends to voters is that if one wants to help decide who is going to run the city, one has to register as a Democrat. It’s a formula neither for good government nor for growing the Republican share of the market.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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