Community Corner
Zeldin Rejects Malcolm Smith’s “Oblivion Pledge”
State senator reacts and issues statement.
This new partisan redistricting bill is the real enemy of reform.
It would make the redistricting process even more partisan than it is now.
Democrats would make six of the eight picks to the redistricting panel, giving them the supermajority they need to manipulate the lines to elect even more Democrats.
That’s not the independent, non-partisan reform I have been willing to vote for.
Senator Malcolm Smith, former Majority Leader of the New York State Senate, has said, “With the Democrats in control of the State Senate, we are going to draw the lines so Republicans will be in oblivion in the State of New York for the next 20 years.”
Apparently, Mayor Koch, the Governor, Senate and Assembly Democrat leadership, and the New York State Democratic Partyare abandoning the NY Uprising pledge and have picked their poison to follow through on the Malcolm Smith “Oblivion Pledge”.
During my campaign, I signed up for independent, non-partisan redistricting, and I remain 100 percent in favor of changing and improving this system and any other system that possibly can be improved. Show me a bill that provides for independent, non-partisan redistricting, and I'll show you my co-sponsorship. In the meantime, Democrat partisans need to stop playing games to monopolize power in New York State.
I applaud Senator Skelos for his leadership on this issue. Our state is going through tough fiscal times right now. My constituents have sent me to Albany to fight for property tax relief, private sector job growth, and fiscal discipline. Families are trying to figure out how to survive in New York. Shouldn't our constituents' survival, and a better quality of life for them be our top priority to deliver? This is the real pledge that the Democrat machine needs to warm up to and embrace instead of huddling in their bunkers in Albany trying to plot out how to grab every last piece of power in our state capital.
Let's talk more about fixing our state and less about redistricting the Republicans into “Oblivion.” For those who are most concerned about redistricting, I remain fully committed to supporting any good plan that accomplishes independent, non-partisan reform. Isn’t that what the New York Uprising Pledge was all about?
