If you've been following the State Senate races or live in a district with a tight contest, you know that there's been a lot of campaigning going on to determine the control of the divided body. Well in order to operate all of those campaigns requires a lot of money, even in the less expensive upstate media markets. Republicans are determined to hold their last vestige of power and the Democrats feel destined to take it away and make New York a one-party-ruled state. So how much money does that take?
From The NY Times:
Candidates and party committees have spent well over $40 million so far in the Senate contests, according to an analysis of recent filings by the New York Public Interest Research Group, a government watchdog organization. By Election Day, the group estimated, that figure will almost certainly exceed the $43.6 million spent during 2006 and will be far more than the $27 million spent during the 2004 Senate elections, according to the analysis.
With a week to go before Election Day, Republicans had at least $11.7 million on hand, far more than the Democrats’ $5.2 million. Republicans, who have controlled the Senate for roughly four decades, are greatly outspending Democrats. The tally now is 31 Republicans, 29 Democrats and 2 vacancies.
During the last three weeks alone, Republican candidates and committees have spent $7.4 million in races around the state, compared with at least $5 million for Democratic candidates and committees.
The Republicans’ financial advantage is less pronounced than in past years in part because Democrats have been able to raise more money from businesses and special interests, thanks to the narrowness of the Republican majority and to Mr. Paterson’s decision to break with Albany tradition by aggressively helping his fellow Democrats in the Senate.
Control of the Senate is extremely important to both parties. Keeping things the same gives the GOP some relevance in the state's power apparatus and a way to hold onto the status quo of getting next to nothing done on the progressive agenda. If the Democrats take the Senate back, a whole host of reforms promises to make its way from the Legislature to the Governor and then on to the people of New York. Everything from an expansion of renters' rights to legalizing gay marriage is possible. What determines the agenda are those New Yorkers living in key districts across the state that can shake up Albany like it hasn't been in over forty years.
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