Every day or so, there’s been a complaint by lodged by Republicans who seem to be shocked and disturbed that Governor Spitzer is trying to help his fellow Democrat, Craig Johnson, win the upcoming Special Election for State Senator in Nassau County. This is sometimes accompanied by the insinuation that Spitzer did something underhanded by appointing Republican State Senator Mike Balboni as his top aide on homeland security, which created this vacancy.
I’m surprised that nobody has pointed out that an almost identical situation occurred at the beginning of the Pataki administration when the shoes were on other feet.
The Republicans after Pataki’s win and the other Republican victories in New York and around the country were thought to be on a roll. There were even stories speculating about the GOP soon picking up enough seats in the State Assembly to take total control of the State government.
They also saw an opportunity to add to their State Senate majority. A district including Rochester and its suburbs were represented by Mary Ellen Jones who was narrowly elected and re-elected in 1992 and 1994. A Republican Assemblyman, James Alesi wanted her job.
Rather than wait until November of 1996 for Alesi to challenge Jones, Pataki instead appointed her as a member of the State Parole Board, a job that paid more than the Senate, doesn’t involve much work and was a for a longer term than 2 years.
Alesi then won the Special Election in February of 1996 to replace Jones defeating a serious Democratic candidate, Donald Chatsworth, the former head of the State Police. Pataki and the rest of the Republicans campaigned hard for Alesi and nobody that I recall thought that this was unfair.
There is however one significant difference between the situations.
Mike Balboni is generally considered an expert in the field of homeland security and everything I have read says he is well qualified for the position. While it’s possible that creating the open Senate seat was one of Spitzer’s motives for the appointment, it was clearly not the only one.
Mary Ellen Jones, on the other hand was not an expert in parole. She was schoolteacher before becoming a Senator. And as a Senator, she had a liberal voting record on criminal justice issues, including voting against bringing back the death penalty. There is absolutely no reason Pataki would have given somebody with her background such an appointment except to create the vacancy.