Syracuse, NY - In the 49th Senate District race, a three-term incumbent who ran on a platform of reform is being challenged by a political newcomer running on platform of reform. When Democrat David Valesky upset longtime incumbent Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann in 2004 by fewer than 800 votes, he immediately called for “aggressive” reform of the way the Senate...
Syracuse, NY - In the 49th Senate District race, a three-term incumbent who ran on a platform of reform is being challenged by a political newcomer running on platform of reform.
When Democrat David Valesky upset longtime incumbent Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann in 2004 by fewer than 800 votes, he immediately called for “aggressive” reform of the way the Senate operates. Some of that, he says, has come to pass – the discretionary money lawmakers can spend in their districts is now more fairly distributed and the grip of power by top Senate legislators has been loosened.
“We continue to press for change in terms of rules and reform in the Senate,” Valesky said. “I don’t think there is a finish line, but I think we’ve made some strides.”
Learn about the candidates at the syracuse.com Voter Guide.Republican Andrew Russo, whose campaign committee is called Reformers for Russo, says Valesky hasn’t gone nearly far enough. Russo accuses Valesky of aligning himself more with Senate leader Malcolm Smith than with constituents in the 49th District.
“He votes in lockstep with Malcolm Smith,” Russo said.
Russo’s campaign is based on restraining spending, checking tax increases and establishing term limits to prevent “career politicians” from running Albany.
“We have a state that has forgotten that businesses created jobs, and you don’t solve problems by raising taxes because it pushes people and capital out of our economy,” he said. “Are people’s lives better than they were two years ago? I’m finding very few people whose lives are.”
Valesky is the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate. He touts his role in blocking a proposed tax on soda, imposing new regulations on health maintenance organizations and in helping local governments consolidate and save money.
Valesky and his wife, Julie, and their three children live in Oneida. Before running for the Senate in 2004, he was station manager of WCNY-FM and the host of a talk show on WCNY-TV. He also served as a legislative aide to former Assembly Majority Leader Michael Bragman from 1989 to 1995.
Russo, a concert pianist who studied in New York City and lived in Europe for years, said he decided to come back to Central New York nine years ago to raise his family where he was raised. Russo and his wife, Natalia, live in Fayetteville and have two children.
Russo is director of music at LeMoyne College and is a financial representative for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. He was registered as a Democrat in his early 20s, and then was affiliated with no party at all until last year, when he switched to Republican.
It’s been a mudslinging campaign. Russo, backed by Senate Republicans, has painted Valesky as a free-spending, high-taxing Democrat controlled by Downstate Democrats. Valesky has criticized Russo for not voting for 14 years and for accepting government grants for his nonprofit musical organization while criticizing “pork-barrel” spending.
The race is being closely watched, and heavily funded, in Albany, where if the Republicans can gain even one seat the Democrats will lose their fragile, 32-30 grip on power in the Senate. The 49th District has a narrow Democratic majority of registered voters – 37 percent to 33 percent for Republicans. About 23 percent have no party affiliation.
This year’s Senate campaigns are particularly important because this session of the state Legislature will redraw district lines based on the 2010 Census results.
Valesky has sponsored legislation calling for an independent commission to draft the new lines, with the Senate voting on the panel’s recommendations. Russo says that’s an abdication of senators’ responsibility.
Party bosses in Albany have pumped money into the race for attack ads and mailers. Russo has also gotten support from Common Sense Principles, a fiscally conservative group based in Virginia.
Valesky has more money in the bank: $277,143 compared to Russo’s $156,414, according to the most recent campaign filings.
In a poll conducted in early October by Siena College, Valesky had a 50 percent to 40 percent lead. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 470-3251.
How Sen. Valesky voted
Here’s how Sen. David Valesky, D-Onieda, voted on some key issues in the past two years:
STAR rebate: On a 2009 budget bill that, among other things, eliminated the Middle Class STAR Rebate Program, which provided annual tax rebates of $145 to $475 to Central New York homeowners earning less than $250,000: Yes
Same-sex marriage: On a 2009 bill to make legal same-sex marriages: Yes
Hydrofracking: On a 2010 bill to suspend issuing permits for hydraulic fracturing to capture natural gas until May 15, 2011: Yes
Cigarette tax: On a 2010 budget bill that, among other things, raised the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1.60, making it the highest cigarette tax in the country, and required the collection of taxes on cigarettes sold by Indian nations to non-Indians: Yes
Tax credits: On a 2010 budget vote that, among other things, requires businesses who earned a variety of tax credits to wait three years before they can receive credits on amounts over $2 million: Yes
David Valesky
Age: 44
Address: 108 Hunt Valley Road, Oneida
Lines on ballot: Democrat, Independence, Working Families
Political career: First elected to senate in 2004; Re-elected twice.
Andrew Russo
Age: 35
Address: 103 Valerie Circle, Fayetteville
Lines on ballot: Republican, Conservative
Political career: First run for office.