It's wasn't quite the Richard Nixon vs. John F. Kennedy debate, but Jim Orman believes that a forum televised on Adelphia cable played a critical role in his election victory.
The October forum, which quizzed Orman and current Cayuga County Treasurer David Farrell on a variety of issues, including the $655,000 underbilling of health insurance premiums, aired twice in the city of Auburn.
“Viewers could watch and make a choice,” Orman said, adding that his grassroots campaign also aided him. “I think that helped us. You listen, you watch, you choose.”
On Election Day, Orman defeated the 29-year incumbent by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. As surprising, the Republican challenger scored more votes in 20 out of the 21 Auburn voting districts, a city which has far more registered Democrats.
But Orman wasn't alone. Traditional party lines were blurred in the city this month.
Republican and Conservative city council candidate Matt Smith was the leading vote-getter in Auburn, despite running against two Democrats which included one incumbent. In addition, Republican Linda Murphy appears to be on her way to upsetting incumbent Democrat Bill Catto in the legislature's District 11. Murphy leads by 24 votes, with absentee ballots still to be counted.
Yet the 2005 elections do not spell a Democratic demise for Laurie Michelman, chair of the county Democratic Committee. Rather, residents voted for different reasons.
“I think this year wasn't really about Republicans or Democrats,” Michelman said. “It was more about challengers versus incumbents.”
Voters were looking for new individuals and fresh ideas, Michelman said. As evidence, she cited Democrat Dan Schuster's win against 16-year incumbent Sam DeRosa, a Republican, for the county Legislature's District 13 seat, which represents Auburn.
Michelman's counterpart in the county Republican Committee, Cherl Heary, said that voters nowadays are willing to cross party lines if they see qualified candidates that can offer change.
Heary believes that the Orman, Smith and Murphy performances were due to a number of factors, including door-to-door campaigning and “city blitzes,” when committee members, candidates and volunteers handed out campaign literature. At times, candidates knocked on doors together.
“I believe we do have to work harder,” Heary said of campaigning in Auburn, noting that the candidates stopped at every house, regardless of political affiliation. Guy Cosentino, former Republican mayor of Auburn and a columnist for The Citizen, said that there were several other factors besides party affiliations that played into this year's elections.
He called the voter turnout in the city “obnoxiously low” and a point that may have dampened the Democrats' chances. Cosentino also believes Farrell's decision to run for re-election damaged the party. Nearly every legislative Democrat was forced to defend or deflect questions during the campaign regarding the treasurer's underbilling error.
“That clearly hurt the Democrats,” Cosentino said. “People down the ticket were also going to pay.”
Smith conceded that though some residents will vote straight ticket, many are willing to cross party lines in local elections.
“Since we don't deal with social issues at local levels,” he said, “whatever party you're affiliated with doesn't much matter.”
Smith said that he had several registered Democrats assist him with his campaign. He told people that he wasn't loyal to a party but rather to all citizens.
“I think in this case, they were looking at the two people involved in the campaign more than party lines,” Orman added. “I just can't tell you how many people said, ‘I never vote Republican, and I did this time.' ”
That included former chair of the county Democratic party, Katie Lacey. In a letter to the editor published in The Citizen, Lacey confessed that publicly endorsing Orman, a Republican, was not an easy thing for her to do.
“Would it be more comfortable if Jim were a Democrat? Yes,” Lacey wrote. “But I'm voting for him anyway.”
Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net
“Viewers could watch and make a choice,” Orman said, adding that his grassroots campaign also aided him. “I think that helped us. You listen, you watch, you choose.”
On Election Day, Orman defeated the 29-year incumbent by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. As surprising, the Republican challenger scored more votes in 20 out of the 21 Auburn voting districts, a city which has far more registered Democrats.
But Orman wasn't alone. Traditional party lines were blurred in the city this month.
Republican and Conservative city council candidate Matt Smith was the leading vote-getter in Auburn, despite running against two Democrats which included one incumbent. In addition, Republican Linda Murphy appears to be on her way to upsetting incumbent Democrat Bill Catto in the legislature's District 11. Murphy leads by 24 votes, with absentee ballots still to be counted.
Yet the 2005 elections do not spell a Democratic demise for Laurie Michelman, chair of the county Democratic Committee. Rather, residents voted for different reasons.
“I think this year wasn't really about Republicans or Democrats,” Michelman said. “It was more about challengers versus incumbents.”
Voters were looking for new individuals and fresh ideas, Michelman said. As evidence, she cited Democrat Dan Schuster's win against 16-year incumbent Sam DeRosa, a Republican, for the county Legislature's District 13 seat, which represents Auburn.
Michelman's counterpart in the county Republican Committee, Cherl Heary, said that voters nowadays are willing to cross party lines if they see qualified candidates that can offer change.
Heary believes that the Orman, Smith and Murphy performances were due to a number of factors, including door-to-door campaigning and “city blitzes,” when committee members, candidates and volunteers handed out campaign literature. At times, candidates knocked on doors together.
“I believe we do have to work harder,” Heary said of campaigning in Auburn, noting that the candidates stopped at every house, regardless of political affiliation. Guy Cosentino, former Republican mayor of Auburn and a columnist for The Citizen, said that there were several other factors besides party affiliations that played into this year's elections.
He called the voter turnout in the city “obnoxiously low” and a point that may have dampened the Democrats' chances. Cosentino also believes Farrell's decision to run for re-election damaged the party. Nearly every legislative Democrat was forced to defend or deflect questions during the campaign regarding the treasurer's underbilling error.
“That clearly hurt the Democrats,” Cosentino said. “People down the ticket were also going to pay.”
Smith conceded that though some residents will vote straight ticket, many are willing to cross party lines in local elections.
“Since we don't deal with social issues at local levels,” he said, “whatever party you're affiliated with doesn't much matter.”
Smith said that he had several registered Democrats assist him with his campaign. He told people that he wasn't loyal to a party but rather to all citizens.
“I think in this case, they were looking at the two people involved in the campaign more than party lines,” Orman added. “I just can't tell you how many people said, ‘I never vote Republican, and I did this time.' ”
That included former chair of the county Democratic party, Katie Lacey. In a letter to the editor published in The Citizen, Lacey confessed that publicly endorsing Orman, a Republican, was not an easy thing for her to do.
“Would it be more comfortable if Jim were a Democrat? Yes,” Lacey wrote. “But I'm voting for him anyway.”
Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net
