Elise Stefanik is a good example of how the RW media machine has twisted the nation

[f_townsend]

Stefanik was first elected to NY's 21st congressional district in 2014 (beginning her first term in Jan, 2015), originally presenting herself as a "moderate Republican".

Despite her increasingly right-wing positions -- or maybe, because of them -- she has been reelected four times. She is essentially Trump's number-one supporter in NY state.

So a rabid Donald Trump supporter has held NY's 21st congressional seat for five consecutive terms.

Before Stefanik, these were NY's 21st district's representatives (since 1929). Only Democrats and moderate, old-school northeastern Republicans:

Bill Owens (D): 2013-15 (replaced by Stefanik after his retirement)
Paul Tonko (D): 2009-2013
Mike McNulty (D): 1993-2009
Hamilton Fish IV (R): 1983-1993
Robert Garcia (D): 1978-1983
Herman Badillo (D): 1973-1977
James H. Scheuer (D): 1965-1973
James C. Healy (D): 1963-65
Herbert Zelenko (D): 1955-63
Jacob Javits (R): 1947-54
James H. Torrens (D): 1944-47
Joseph A. Gavaga (D): 1929-1943

Decades of Fox News, RW radio, conservative billionaire-funded propaganda, coupled with national and NY state Democrats' incompetence in competing effectively, have resulted in this.

[brooklynite]

1. Your analysis is seriously flawed.

You don't take into account the process for numbering districts. In the 1940, when Javits was the representative, the 21st was located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, not the northern tip of NYS.

Also, Owens and Tonko won the seat because conservatives ran their own candidate and split the Republican vote.

Today's 21st is probably the most conservative district in the State (R+21). Stefanik became a right-wing nut because that's what the voters wanted. No Democrat will be winning that seat any time soon.

[pwb]

2. Woman will be voting her out soon.

New York woman took for granted reproductive freedoms last election. They will not repeat that mistake after a Texas judge hurt woman even more. Stefanik has done nothing for New York. She thinks she is protected in her boonie district but the maps are changing.

[SharonClark]

3. Do you think a strong Democratic candidate

could beat her?

[brooklynite]

5. No. See #1

[JI7]

4. Were they located in the same area ?

[nuxvomica]

13. No. The 21st has moved around a lot

When I was younger, it was the 29th district and our rep was Gerald Solomon. It was originally part of Manhattan but has been a largely North Country district only since 2013.

[quitnesset]

6. Here's the problem

NY 21 is huge… and it requires media money, money that the dems have not provided. The last Dem candidate was terrific.. young, educated , fought in Iraq and afgan, personable, moderate.. but he had little support from the state or national dems. He put over 65,000 miles

[brooklynite]

7. Which race should they have taken money from to try to win an R+21 seat?

[f_townsend]

8. Whose fault is it that a NY state district is now a R+21 seat?

Both national and NY state Democratic party leaders have played the part of the Washington Generals. They've been like deer-in-the-headlights for the past 25 years when confronted with GOP electioneering and propaganda strategy, Fox News and the rest of the RW media machine. They've been near useless, incompetent. Stefanik is the result.

[brooklynite]

9. Whose fault is it that Nadler is now in a D+34 seat?

People of different ideologies choose to live together. Its not possible to turn every district into a battleground one.

[f_townsend]

10. Spare us the bullshit

The 21st is a Trump Country today because the NY state Democratic party leaders are clueless. A competent leadership, working diligently and with some brains, would have never let this happen.

I note that you claim to have some connection to the NY state Democratic leadership...

[brooklynite]

11. No, I have connections to the National Democratic leadership...

NYS's Party doesn't have leadership. But even if it did, not every House district is winnable.

[f_townsend]

12. "NYS's Party doesn't have leadership"

What's this -- the leadership team for Rite Aid?

https://www.nydems.org/about/leadership

[brooklynite]

14. Its the leadership team for Governor Cuomo, who didn't want a competing political power base

There's no staff and only a figurehead Chair. Its essentially a federation of County Party Chair who don't care about races outside their own area.

[f_townsend]

15. It's the current NYS Democratic party leadership team

You can cut the bullshit. It's not "the leadership team for Governor Cuomo"; it's the leadership team for the NYS Democrats. Cuomo's no longer in office, but this team is still in charge of the state party.

Either you are an idiot, or you think everybody else is an idiot.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/12/jay-jacobs-has-few-regrets-and-no-apologies.html

[brooklynite]

16. As a newbie you might want to check your language.

The Governor is busy dealing with the State Budget. Political reform will have to wait to get her attention.

Jacobs was appointed by Cuomo, who left rather abruptly, and restructuring a political Party doesn't happen immediately.

All that said, if we had the equivalent of Ben Wickler (whom I know personally) and the Wisconsin Democratic Party, we wouldn't have one NY-21. The competitive races that we SHOULD have won were in Long Island and the Hudson Valley.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

20. Good grief, you are determined to cling to any nonsense

To keep your hatred of Democrats burning.

Just because Cuomo isn't in office anymore does not mean that the people he appointed to party offices went anywhere.

Just like Alito and Roberts are still on the Supreme Court, despite Dumbya no longer being in office. If nobody has removed them, then there they stay.For whatever reason the state party has, whoever can change that hasn't done so--and that's something you need to take up with them, rather than hating on ALL of the Democratic party for what they're doing.

Why do you refuse to accept basic reality?

You want to hate on Democrats, do it somewhere else. This is not the site for it.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

19. Districts are not static.

You clearly don't know jack about reality, namely how the district has been split up and moved around for decades now. The 21st used to be near Manhattan. Now it's over 140 miles north of there, and the population is completely different from that of Manhattan, in just about every demographic metric you can name.

Really.

So stop hating on the party, and learn some reality.

[NotVeryImportant]

17. How are you defining "moderate, old-school northeastern Republican?"

[f_townsend]

18. Hamilton Fish IV voted to impeach Nixon

And Javits was often as liberal as any Democrat: he supported labor unions, the New Deal, the Great Society, civil rights issues, and opposed the Vietnam War.

[dsc]

21. The fact is that any effective gerrymander of NY is going to give us a district or two

that is very GOP. After all, NY has GOP voters and thus a few districts will be very GOP. If we get to redraw districts her district will almost surely get worse than it is now.