Syracuse, NY -- An anti-Albany and anti-Democrat climate combined with a race that slide under the public radar for many people helped political newcomer Don Miller take an 840 vote lead over Assemblyman Al Stirpe in the race for the 121st District, according to a Central New York political expert. “I didn’t get the sense that this race had...
Republican candidate for State Assembly Don Miller watches early vote totals with supporters from his reception room on Tuesday at the Double Tree Hotel.Syracuse, NY -- An anti-Albany and anti-Democrat climate combined with a race that slide under the public radar for many people helped political newcomer Don Miller take an 840 vote lead over Assemblyman Al Stirpe in the race for the 121st District, according to a Central New York political expert.
“I didn’t get the sense that this race had its own identity,” said Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. “The individuals in this race did not stand out. A lot of people were pulling a ballet from a generic frustration for Washington and that worked in Miller’s favor.”
Miller, who leads Stripe by 21,853 to 21,013 votes, has yet to claim victory in the race for the 121st Assembly District, which is composed of Cicero, Clay, LaFayette, Manlius and Pompey. The Onondaga County Board of Elections received 1,784 absentee ballots by Tuesday; they will be counted in the next two weeks.
A spokesperson for Stirpe’s campaign said they are waiting for the recanvassing of voting machines next week and the counting of the absentee ballots. Stirpe was unable for comment Wednesday.
Stirpe, a Democrat, was vying for his third term in the Republican-dominated district. Republicans out number Democrats 30,576 to 27,114 and there are 21,862 voters who are not registered in a party.
Stirpe won the seat in 2006 by a narrow margin beating Republican William Meyer by 23,914 to 22,562 votes. In 2008, the race for the district was considered one of the most hotly contested in the state. Stirpe won the seat, easily defeating Republican challenger Dave Knapp by 34,017 to 23,546 votes.
Reeher said the lack of issues and strong messages surrounding this year’s race put Stirpe at a disadvantage.
Miller, 44, who was endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independent parties, works for Jadak Technologies as a quality manager and lives in Clay with wife and two daughters. He said he knew the race was going to be close.
“For a challenger running against an incumbent you always expect a close race,” Miller said. “They have all the advantages of an incumbency, including the name recognition and the money.”
Stirpe raised $142,998 in contributions with more than half of that money, $81,700, coming from the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee in services and donations since January 2010. The committee also spent about $174,000 on Stirpe’s behalf this year.
Miller raised $34,430 in contributions since February 2010. Miller also loaned his campaign $25,000 in June. It could not be determined how much the New York Republican State Committee spent.
“Money doesn’t translate into votes, however, you do need enough money to be competitive,” Reeher said. “I think the more important thing is this race is that people associated (Stirpe’s) money with Albany politics.”
Miller also helped send that message to voters with several political mailers and radio ads close to Election Day. In the mailers he refereed to Stirpe as “Albany Al.” He also included Stirpe’s voting record.
“Pointing out that 8,559 jobs have been lost and 80 companies are gone since Stirpe took office is not negative campaigning,” Miller said. “It is stating the facts. The people can decide what’s negative.”
Before the election results came in on Tuesday night, Stirpe said he was happy with the way he ran his campaign. “I think we did what we needed to do,” Stirpe said. “We didn’t do as much media with TV and radio, but I think we got our message out and we kept it positive.”
Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298.