This Tues🐟day, Post readers will go to the ballot box to se♛lect representatives in local, state and federal contests.
In this year’s race, we have already endorsed for gov🃏ernor Rob Astorino, whose bold economic reform agenda is just the tonic for an Empire State that is today one of the most overtaxed, overregulated and anti-business in the nation.
For attorney general, we endorse Republican challenger John Cahill over incumbent Eric Schneiderman. The onetime chief-of-staff to th♏en-Gov. George Pataki has been a dedicated public servant and successful in the private sector.
Schneiderman, meanwhile, twice came up short in situations calling for independence and integrity in Albany. First, he signed off on Shelly Sꦦilver’s payoff to ಌthe victims of lecherous former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, rather than open a formal criminal inquiry.
Then, in the face of an over-reaching Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he failed to assert his own rights and permit the Moreland Commission 𝄹to fulfill its mandate.
At the same time, Schneiderman’s focus has been oꦇn shaking down institutions from JP Morgan Chase to the American Red Cross.
While he hails his billion-dollar settlements as achievements, the job of an attorney general is not to rais🌃e revenue but to uphold the law. The ga🐬ins Schneiderman boasts about in fact carry a high hidden cost: the business investment these raids discourage.
Plainly, John Cahill is the superior alternative.
In Congress🌊, meanwhile, ඣthese House races stand out:
- NY-1st Congressional District: Republican state Sen. Lee Zeldin offers a welcome change from seven-term incumbent Rep. Timothy Bishop. In Albany, Zeldin has been a much-needed voice for tax relief. Having served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq and now an Army Reservist, Zeldin represents a new generation of veterans aware of the challenges America still faces in a dangerous and often hostile world.
- NY-19th District: In a Hudson Valley grudge match, former Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth, a doctor and businesswoman, deserves to regain the seat she lost last time to incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney.
- NY-21st District: In this upstate open race, former George W. Bush White House staffer Elise Stefanik, currently helping run her family’s small business, has the opportunity to make history as the youngest woman elected to the House. Clearly, Stefanik is far more in tune than her Democratic rival, filmmaker Aaron Woolf, with the needs of her struggling upstate district.
- NJ-5th District: Since he was first elected in 2002, Rep. Scott Garrett has been a principled Republican voice for a strong foreign policy and growing economy. His seniority on the House Budget Committee makes him a vital voice for a government that lives within its means. Democratic attorney Roy Cho — who only recently moved to the state — would be a step backward for high-taxed, beleaguered Garden Staters.
Finally, on New York state Proposition 3: Vote “No” on authorizing a $2 billion bond to pay for technology upgrades in schools across the🧔 state. Such improvements should be done through normal budgeting, not floating more debt.