Vote 2010: Dissatisfaction upstate could hurt Democrats
By Carolyn Thompson and Michael Hill The Associated Press Posted Oct 11, 2010 @ 04:57 PM
Canandaigua, N.Y. — Ken Streebel is not happy with the direction New York is headed.
“No way,” said the 61-year-old maintenance mechanic from suburban Hamburg. “Taxes are too expensive, my wife’s been out of work for 2 1/2 years: one, because there’s no jobs but two, because we’re in our 60s, she can’t get a job.”
He says before his wife lost her job, he was out of work for more than four years.
Streebel is a registered Democrat who plans to vote for Republican Carl Paladino for governor. He’s an illustration of why New York Democrats could have a tougher time piling up wide margins of victory among upstate voters this November than previous elections.
In a year when voters are unhappy around the country, upstate residents appear especially restless. That could chip into votes for Democrats, who hold both U.S. Senate seats, the governor’s mansion and offices of the state attorney general and comptroller.
The phenomenon is personified by Paladino, the Buffalo developer who built his campaign on anger at Albany politicians. But it goes deeper than that. A recent poll shows voter dissatisfaction especially sharp in upstate New York, an area that has long endured job and population losses.
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