The controversial bail reform law approved by Democrats in the last legislative session will loom large in a slate of contested state Senate races as New Yorkers …
The controversial bail reform law approved by Democrats in the last legislative session will loom large in a slate of contested state Senate races as New Yorkers begin casting their ballots in person Saturday at early voting sites throughout the state. Early voting runs from Oct.24 through Nov.1 at 88 city polling sites ahead of the Nov.3 election [check vote.nyc to find your polling site]. Meanwhile more than 2.3 million voters have requested absentee ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic and over 665,000 have already been returned. That means a substantial number of state voters will cast their ballots before Election Day; nationally more than 50 million Americans have already voted early. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct.27. In the state Senate, Democrats now hold a comfortable 40-20 majority with three seats vacant due to Republican retirements. Dems can secure a potential veto-proof majority to challenge fellow Democrat, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on any legislative battles if they pick up two seats, raising the total to 42. But Republican candidates are using bail reform as a cudgel to try to paint first-term Democratic incumbents who voted for the changes as “soft on crime.” The law eliminated cash bail for mostly non-violent felony crimes. But following an outcry after a series of incidents of serial felons being released and arrested for committing violent crimes, Cuomo and Democratic lawmakers passed revisions tightening the law and allowing for more judicial discretion to detain defendants deemed dangerous. “Clearly the issue of bail reform, the issue of public safety has come to the forefront in a way I think I have never seen before. The Democrats over the last year and a half — they made this the issue because they decided to make pretty revolutionary changes to the criminal justice system,” said Senate Republican Minority Leader Robert Ortt. Ortt said the crime issue became more potent after liberal Democrats began “talking about defunding the New York City Police Department. It used to be a given that whomever was in Albany or an elected official they all supported law enforcement. Now that is not the case.” Still, Republicans are in a tough spot, having to play defense thanks to a wave of retirements of veteran GOP senators, forcing them to try to spend money to keep vacant seats in the GOP column.
