November 8, 2006
Democrats Win Big Across New York State
To no one's surprise, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was elected the next Governor, Senator Hillary Clinton was re-elected, and Andrew Cuomo was elected Attorney General. (Democrat Alan Hevesi was re-elected Comptroller, but more on that later.) But the dynamics are interesting: Spitzer won in a "historic landslide" and Clinton managed to take votes of 20-25% of Republican voters. After a victory speech that included a reference to Ali G, Spitzer will have to make good on his mandate for sweeping change - and he'll need to figure out how to work with Mayor Bloomberg on a number of issues, from development to school financing.
Four House seats turned over to the Democrats, but the Republicans managed to keep control of the State Senate. Check out the election results here at NY1.
There were some voting glitches in the city, but watchdog groups said things seemed to be "normal." (We're guessing it's because the races weren't very heated - funny how the big elections seem to be the primaries.) However, the NYPD had to break into a polling site in the Bronx. From the Post:
Joyce Davis, a retired city employee, said the center was shut tight when she showed up at 7 a.m. and election workers couldn't explain why it hadn't opened on schedule at 6 a.m.How was your voting experience? Quiet or chaotic?John Ravitz, executive director of the city's Board of Elections, said voting machines were in place but the custodian was nowhere to be found to open the building at 5:45 a.m.
"No one was answering any of the emergency numbers we had," he recalled. Enter the NYPD. Cops had to stage a break in to allow the balloting to proceed. Davis said she finally got to cast her ballot at 8:40 a.m.
Now the stage has been set for Hillary Clinton - as well as Bloomberg and Giuliani - to think about 2008. It's going to be an interesting two years till then.
Photograph of Attorney General-elect Andrew Cuomo, Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, and Senator Hillary Clinton by Frank Franklin/AP
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It was pretty quiet (at 7:30ish), but speaking to the poll workers, they said that there was a pretty strong turnout. Which i suppose sort of goes along with the rest of the country.
Boo Yah is not a reference to Ali G you retard! Jim Cramer was his college classmate!
Calm down, people. If you really think the editors are "retards" why are you still reading Gothamist? What does that say about YOU?
“Today was a victory not of one candidate or one party,” Mr. Spitzer said, joined by his wife, daughters and parents. “But of all those irrepressible optimists who have hoped and dreamed of a resurgent New York.” He also quoted the sage Ali G., saying “Booyah.” (He said it came from his favorite TV show.) [Update: O.K., probably not Ali G. We have “Borat” on the brain at the Zone. A more likely source is his friend Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” — see the comments below.]
Oh, come on - it's more fun to say it's a reference to Ali G. That's what an HBO Comedy marathon of Da Ali G Show will do.
Right on, Jen! I agree. And Borat rocks. I can't wait to see it with my friend who really is from Kazakhstan!
I'm sure your Kazakh friend will tell you how much harm Borat has done for their country.
The government has spent significant sums trying to bolster its image and getting the message out that Borat is a fictional character not representative of the people of Kazakhstan.
What harm? Who in the world actually thinks Borat is a real Kazak? For crying out loud, they are just playing right into his hand. Even most people in Kazakhstan know it's just a joke. This shows that politicians, no matter where they're from, are complete morons.
You might want to amend that photo credit to include the Lieutenant Governor-elect (and current NY State Senate Minority Leader) David Paterson, who is standing to the left of Andrew. He also won last night and will be the states first African-American Lt. Governor.
Just saying.
Responding to the question: Because I moved a few blocks into another district but had not yet changed my address with the Board of Elections, I was told to vote by affidavit. When I arrived at my polling place in the morning, I found out my new district, then explained to the volunteers several times that I need to vote by affidavit. After answering the same questions about three times, I pointed to the affidavit and said, "I need that." They gave it to me, I voted and left, all in about 8 minutes.
Later that night, my husband attempted to do the same thing, but he was told he needed some proof of his new address. He came back home to get a bill because he didn't want to argue with the poll volunteers, however, I told him that he should inform them that simply signing the affidavit and providing his previous registered address was sufficient. I feel he was being discriminated against by natives of the area due to resentment of gentrification of the area. My husband just thinks the volunteers were poorly trained and not very smart.
In any case, I plan to write a letter to the Board of Elections registering a complaint against the volunteers at my polling place.
s,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404852&in_page_id=1770
You're not telling me anything I don't already know, but the government in Kazakhstan saw fit to respond to the stereotypes Sacha Cohen displays as Borat.