Monday, November 1, 2010

A lil email to friends

Dear Friends:

Tomorrow, as I'm sure you've heard, is election day. If you've talked to me in the past few weeks (or ever), you know how passionate I am about elections (and voting) and particularly what is at stake in New York this cycle. I know that many of us live in districts that might not be "in play," but the reality is that we all can play a role in the outcome of tomorrow's election.

There are two statewide races in which neither candidate has the majority, the Attorney General's race and the Comptroller's race. I implore you to vote for Eric Schneiderman for Attorney General and Thomas DiNapoli for Comptroller. Votes for these candidates will be votes for government reform, economic justice, women's rights and LGBT equality.

You can learn more about Eric Schneiderman here and Thomas DiNapoli here

The New York State Senate has a slim democratic majority and while tomorrow's results might not see an increase in that majority, we will hopefully see victories for democrats who are better on issues such as marriage equality, if every one plays their part tomorrow same-sex couples could come 4 votes closer to winning this critical right.

In many cases, the most critical outcome of these elections will be the party in power will redraw district lines, which occurs after every census. There is a reason that Republicans had control of the NY State Senate for so many years, they drew their districts. The catch here, this year is that NY is likely going to lose at least 2 Congressional seats throughout the state, therefore the redistricting will also hugely impact our representation nationally. It is critical that democrats maintain control of the Senate, that we retain our super-majority in the Assembly and the Governorship.

Nationwide, New York is viewed as a beacon of progressive values, a conservative or tea-party victory across the state will give huge weight to these platforms and put us in quite a fight in 2012, more so than we are in presently. Mid-term elections always see losses at a national level - Clinton lost about 50 seats in the house, FDR somewhere near 70. It is estimated that tomorrow, the House will lose anywhere from 40-80 seats, and the Senate anywhere from 4 - 9. We've spent the last 2 years with a Democratic controlled White House, Senate and House of Representatives, tomorrow we could see that change.

Tomorrow's election results hold in the balance issues that I know are important to many of you. I know we are all very busy people, but please take the time to go vote tomorrow.

You can find your polling place here

Not sure who to vote for? Check out this tool or ask me!!!

I will be voting on Row E tomorrow, the Working Families Party line, I encourage you to do the same. But honestly, I'll be happy if you just get out and vote!

Here's to democracy and 4am mornings in its name.

Talk soon,

Erin

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