GOP State Sen. Frank Padavan is back in the 11th District seat he had held for more than 30 years.

But much has changed since he and his Democratic opponent City Councilman James Gennaro faced off on Election Day in November.

The longtime legislator had to really battle for his seat. Even after the Election Day tally had him ahead, he wasn’t declared the winner until earlier this month and was sworn in at a ceremony Sunday.

Republican and Democratic officials volleyed in courtrooms for weeks. Padavan continued to work in his district office without an official title or a paycheck.

And when it was all over, Padavan and Gennaro exchanged bitter words via written statements.

Padavan said last week he is ready to move on and pledged to run again in 2010.

“We have received thousands of phone calls, letters and e-mails from people to show their support,” he said. “I am not exaggerating.”

Padavan said he isn’t discouraged that Republicans are no longer in control of the state Senate.

“That’s a narrow issue,” he said. “Everyone is going to have to work together during these tough times.”

He said their focus should be on how the federal stimulus package will help New York fill funding gaps in health and education programs.

Padavan didn’t want to revisit the criticisms of Gennaro and Democratic officials who said he was trying to suppress votes by challenging paper ballots.

However, in a statement released earlier this month, Padavan did take a swing at Gennaro and his consultants for “engaging in a shameful smear campaign.”

In a concession statement, Gennaro wished Padavan well but called for him to apologize to voters.

Gennaro said he hasn’t decided whether he will run for reelection or challenge Padavan again. He said he is too busy working on immediate issues, such as the possible closing of Mary Immaculate Hospital.

Since Padavan’s district and Gennaro’s Council district overlap, there is a chance the two will meet again in the coming months. Padavan was not concerned.

“I’ve worked very closely with many of my colleagues across the aisle,” Padavan said. “He’s never been one of them.”

Source: NY Daily News

Incumbent State Sen. Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, is expected to return as a victor to Albany next week following months of recounts and challenges in his race against Democrat James Gennaro, a New York City Council member.

Padavan says the net change in a review of 2,708 invalid ballots shows him winning by 578 votes instead of 580. A judge is scheduled to review recount results Thursday and is expected to allow the New York City Board of Elections to certify the results.

Padavan, who said he’s been staying up on issues from his district office, will be returning to a changed Senate, with Democrats holding a 32-30 majority, their first control of the chamber in 43 years.

“I feel like I’ve never been away,” he said, adding the job remains representing the people in the district.

In the only significant vote so far this year, the Senate passed legislation Tuesday evening to cut the current state budget deficit by $1.6 billion, voting 32-29 along party lines. Padavan said his absence didn’t make a lot of difference since Democratic leaders and Gov. David Paterson developed the measure without input from lawmakers in the new GOP minority.

Democratic leaders countered that many components were Paterson proposals on the table since last year.

“We welcome Senator Padavan back and our Conference looks forward to working with him and his colleagues throughout the session,” said Austin Shafran, spokesman for Senate Democratic Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.

Republicans also complained that the challenge to Padavan has been dragged out unnecessarily. “This election was over months ago and the Democrats have been disenfranchising the people of Queens by dragging out the process and keeping the people from having a representative in the Senate,” said Mark Hansen, spokesman for the Senate Republicans.

Gennaro campaign spokesman Mike Barfield said all unresolved ballot issues in the 11th State Senate race should be resolved in court tomorrow. “Our prime focus is and has always been that all valid ballots be identified and counted. We will comment on the outcome of the election once the court has issued its ruling and all outstanding ballots have been tabulated,” he said.

Gennaro declined a request to comment Wednesday.

Source: AP

Residents of the 11th state Senate district in northeast Queens may be without an Albany representative next month as the legal wrangling over that seat continues.

An appellate court is expected to decide today whether the Board of Elections should resume counting almost 2,000 paper ballots previously marked invalid.

Republicans are expected to appeal any decision that allows those ballots to be counted.

Longtime incumbent state Sen. Frank Padavan has said he defeated his Democratic challenger, City Councilman James Gennaro, in last month’s election. Lawyers for the Republican Party have gone to court to stop the count.

The latest numbers have Padavan ahead by 580 votes.

But lawyers for Gennaro and the Queens County Democratic Party said the election isn’t over until the paper ballots are tallied.

“There is no question and no dispute that there are ballots there from people who are eligible to vote,” said Queens Democratic Party Executive Secretary Michael Reich.

“We want every vote to count,” Reich said. “We are fighting not just for Democratic votes but for Republican votes as well.”

Republicans believe those votes aren’t valid because of clerical errors on the ballots.

“A bipartisan team of Democrat and Republican officials at the Board of Elections has already determined these ballots to be invalid and unqualified to be cast,” said Joseph Conway, a spokesman for the New York State Republican Campaign Committee.

“Allowing them to be reintroduced months after the election would not only be unprecedented, it would also threaten to dilute the power of every vote that was legally cast by Queens residents,” he added.

Reich disagreed.

“We are ready to count the votes and let the chips fall where they may,” he said.

If the count goes his way, Padavan would be the sole Republican state legislator in Queens. Longtime state Sen. Serphin Maltese was defeated by Democratic Councilman Joseph Addabbo last month.

Source: NY Daily News

The battle for the 11th state Senate District seat now being waged in courtrooms and election offices doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon.

But as far as the longtime incumbent, Republican Frank Padavan, is concerned, the race is over. And he is confident he is the winner.

The latest count has Padavan ahead by 580 votes, with nearly 2,000 paper ballots still hanging in the balance.

“This is senseless legal wrangling,” Padavan said Wednesday. “This is an attempt by [Democrats] to count flawed votes already evaluated by a bipartisan process at the Board of Elections.”

Democratic Party officials say City Councilman James Gennaro, who challenged Padavan in what ended up being a surprisingly close race, still has a shot.

They are demanding that 1,750 paper ballots – originally dismissed by the Board of Elections – be reconsidered.

Democrats have accused Republicans of selectively challenging ballots cast by Asian and Latino voters.

Outside a Queens courtroom this week, several students from St. John’s University sat for hours after answering subpoenas. Republican lawyers had brought them into court to challenge their votes. But a judge dismissed the cases, calling the subpoenas a “nuisance.”

“Regardless of what the Republicans would like to have happen, the election should not and will not be over until every legitimate vote is counted,” said Austin Shafran, a spokesman for the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee.

While Republicans were set to ask a judge Wednesday to certify the election and end the challenges, Democrats made it clear they won’t back down.

An additional ally in the Senate could help state Sen. Malcolm Smith pull in wayward Democrats and have a stronger shot at becoming majority leader.

Republicans said they remain confident.

“Even taking into account the grand total of 252 ballots that have been put aside for court review, it has become a mathematical impossibility for Councilmember Gennaro to win this election,” said Joe Conway of the State Senate Republican Campaign Committee.

If the election is not settled by Jan. 1, the 11th District could find itself without a representative in the upper house.

Source: NY Daily News

The unresolved State Senate contest between Senator Frank Padavan, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, James F. Gennaro, moves on Tuesday into a Queens courtroom, where nearly a dozen college students have been subpoenaed to verify their residences.

Republican lawyers have challenged the votes of students, mostly from St. John’s University, saying that they filled out affidavit ballots with addresses that were not their permanent residences. In the paper ballot count, Mr. Padavan is leading by about 600 votes, but about 1,000 more ballots remained to be counted and the validity of an additional 2,000 must still be reviewed.

While the challenges and subpoenas have angered students, who are being forced to appear during exams, they underscore the high stakes attached to winning the Senate seat in Queens. The Democrats now have at least 32 seats in the Senate, giving them a majority for the first time in more than 40 years. But three dissident Democrats have yet to pledge their support for the would-be majority leader, Malcolm A. Smith. That limits him, at the moment, to 29 votes in the 62-member body.

A victory by Mr. Gennaro would bring the Republicans down to 29 seats and provide Mr. Smith with 30 votes. One of the dissident Democrats, Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., says he would not vote for a Republican leader. So, at the very least, a Gennaro win would improve the prospects for Mr. Smith.

Steven H. Richman, the general counsel at the New York City Board of Elections, said that under state law, a student can vote from a polling place near either his or her permanent address or a college address.

“A college student has the option,” Mr. Richman said. “If you’re living on campus, you have the right to register and vote from that district. Or you can register from your parents’ address. You just can’t vote in two places.”

Democratic officials said they were incensed by the subpoenas. “It’s outrageous that this is the lesson that Republicans want to teach young voters,” said, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “They are teaching students that they can be dragged into court just for fulfilling their civic duty. It’s absolutely outrageous.”

In an interview, Mr. Padavan defended the issuing of the subpoenas. “These students have permanent residences that are great distances from the 11th Senatorial District, as evidenced by their driver’s licenses and other materials,” he said. “The question is whether they are valid voters. And if they are not valid voters, their vote shouldn’t count. It’s as simple as that.”

Cristina Fernandez, a student at St. John’s, said by phone that it was more convenient to vote near the school. “Even though my parents live in Manhattan, I live right here in Queens and didn’t see any reason to vote back in Manhattan when I could register to vote right here in the neighborhood,” said Ms. Fernandez, a senior majoring in accounting.

“I was so excited to vote this year,” she added. “But then I had some man showing up on my doorstep issuing me a subpoena because the Republicans are trying to challenge my vote. So, I have to go to court in the middle of finals, instead of studying. It makes you not want to vote ever again.”

Source: NY Times

A still-undecided state Senate contest in Queens turned ugly Tuesday as Democrats accused Sen. Frank Padavan’s supporters of launching a massive effort to discard paper ballots cast by minority voters.

“They are systematically trying to exclude Asians, Hispanics and Democrats from the count,” said Michael Reich, executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party.

Preliminary results showed the Republican senator, who has represented the 11th Senatorial District for more than 35 years, with a 732-vote lead over his Democratic challenger, City Councilman James Gennaro.

That made the race too close to call, since more than 8,300 paper ballots – 10% of the turnout – had not been counted.

They included absentee, military and emergency ballots, along with some 4,500 affidavit ballots filled out at the polls by people whose names were missing from the rolls.

Affidavit ballots are generally from first-time voters. Given the huge turnout Barack Obama’s candidacy sparked, Gennaro believes most of those affidavits are Democrats.

Last Wednesday, a recanvass of the machine tally reduced Padavan’s lead to just 503 votes.

The next day, some two dozen Board of Elections staff members and representatives of the two candidates began counting the paper.

Gennaro’s people say they have not challenged a single ballot the board’s staff has ruled eligible. They say Padavan’s people, on the other hand, have tried to disqualify an astonishing number of Hispanic and Asian surnamed voters.

“No one is trying to disenfranchise anyone,” said Vincent Tabone, executive vice chairman of the Queens Republicans.

“They [the Democrats] are behind, so they want every vote to count, whether it’s valid or not,” Tabone said. “Our lawyers and volunteers are going through the affidavits to make sure they meet the requirements of the statutes.”

And they are doing that with extraordinary diligence.

There were, for instance, the 22 ballots the Republicans challenged from people who gave as their address the huge Creedmor State Psychiatric Hospital in the district.

“There are several longterm Group Homes on that campus,” Reich said. “They challenged everyone from there who voted.”

Tabone acknowledged the blanket Creedmor challenge, but added, “They all put one address. If you’re not permanently residing there, you can’t vote.”

Then there was the case of Margarita Pillot of Hillside Ave. She filed a temporary absentee ballot, stating she would be in Ohio on Election Day working for “a political campaign.” The Republicans challenged her vote. They said she failed to list an employer or the dates she was out of town.

Then there were Paul and Roxanne Cheung, of 157th St. in Flushing. They also voted by affidavit, claiming they moved recently. The Republicans challenged their votes because they neglected to write down their previous address.

Reich says he has a dozen examples of similar minor omissions by white or Republican affidavit voters that Padavan’s people did not challenge.

The two election commissioners overseeing the count – one Democrat, one Republican – have split along party lines on most of the disputed ballots.

Late Tuesday, with only about a quarter of the 8,300 paper ballots reviewed, the box containing challenged votes was up to 120.

With Democrats enjoying a slim lead in the Senate for the first time in decades, both sides consider the Padavan-Gennaro contest crucial. Look for this one to end up in court.

Source: NY Daily News

According to NY Daily News Elizabeth Benjamin, Frank Padavan’s lead over Councilman Jim Gennaro has shrunk still further from the yesterday’s count of 502 votes to 495, which were cast by machine recanvass.

“The most recent tally, which includes the machine recanvass, emergency ballots (used when the machine breaks down) and votes cast on ballot marking devices (the handicapped accessible machines that are located in each ED, as per HAVA)”

A bipartisan recounting crew is now moving on to deal with the roughly 8,000 paper ballots that need to be scrutinized for their validity and then added to the total.”

Results of the race could take a week or so to determine the 11th Senate District.