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Politics & Government

Local Dems React to Ups and Downs of Election Day

Democrats are glad they held onto the local Congressional seat, despite losing overall control.

When the Southampton Democrats assembled at 230 Elm in Southampton Tuesday night as the polls closed to watch the midterm election results come in, many braced for disappointing but not unexpected results in a year when the Democratic brand is particularly unpopular.

But though their party lost control of Congress, many Southampton Democrats said they were confident that their local congressman, Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, would maintain his lead and secure a fifth term in office by beating back a challenge from St. James Republican Randy Altschuler.

So far, Bishop is still narrowly holding a lead, by 3,461 votes with 100 percent of districts counted, the Suffolk County Board of Elections has reported. However, his challenger, Randy Altschuler, has yet to concede while the absentee ballots are counted and he consults an election lawyer.

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"We're in a tough historical period of our time," said Mike Anthony, a former chairman of the Southampton Democratic Committee, adding that the country hasn't seen such dire economic straits since the Great Depression. He said he believes Republican policies led to the recession and high unemployment the country is facing, but "because [Democrats] are in charge we have to take the fall for that."

Anthony pointed out that President Barack Obama has been in office for just 20 months. "It was just hard to turn things around in that time frame," he said.

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The silver lining of losing the House, Anthony said, is that now that the Republicans control a chamber of Congress again they will have to start governing and the country will see the Republicans' agenda.  He said that soon enough voters who went with the Republicans in 2010 will be saying, "We wanted them to fight the deficit. We didn't ask them to do all this other stuff." For example, he cited the Republicans' positions on gay rights and gun control.

Brad Bender of Northampton, an Independent, said he takes comfort in the fact that there is still a Democratic president, who can exercise veto power.  "We're going to be in a place where there's going to be checks and balances," he said.

Bender, the president of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association, is vying for the Independence, Democratic and Working Families nominations for Southampton Town Council in 2011 in the race to fill the seat of Republican Nancy Graboski, who will have to step aside next year due to term limits. Though he said he is disappointed the Democrats failed to hold on to the House majority, Bender said he doesn't think the new majority will affect what Bishop does for the East End, such as dredging Shinnecock Canal and keeping the 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton open.

"I don't think it's as big of a deal as they make it out to be," Lisa Votino-Tarrant of the Shinnecock Indian Nation said of the House's party switch.  She was more concerned with the New York State attorney general race.  "I'm a big civil rights fan," she explained.  Her favored candidate, Democrat Eric Schneiderman, bested Republican Daniel Donovan Jr.

As Bishop's lead shrunk through the night, Nancy Mullen of Quogue said she was getting concerned that the congressman might not pull out a win.  "I worked very hard for Bishop," she said, noting that she held two call parties for Bishop at her home and canvassed neighborhoods in Hampton Bays and Southampton.

But Mullen was ecstatic that Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand kept her seat in the U.S. Senate.  They both attended the same private school, Emma Willard in Troy, New York, the first school in the country to offer the same educational opportunities to girls, opportunities that were previously exclusive to boys.  She said she knows Gillibrand is well educated and prepared for public service after attending Emma Willard.

As for the New York State Senate, Mullen said she crossed party lines to vote for incumbent Kenneth LaValle, a Republican.  "I think he's been there a long time and done a good job," she said.  However, she explained that she gave him a vote on the Independence Party line.

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