Politics and Government

The New York State Republican Party is turning a familiar Democratic Party accusation back against the Assembly Democrats, who are involved in a sexual harassment scandal. 

There's more than one election rematch in Syracuse this fall.

Democrat Al Stirpe is trying to recapture the State Assembly seat he lost to Republican Don Miller in 2010.  Miller, a staunch conservative, won an upset victory over Stirpe despite being outspent by a large margin.

The first of two Assembly hearings on the New York State Thruway Authority’s proposed truck toll increase was held in Albany Wednesday.

Several Assembly Republicans, who are in the minority party in that house, held a hearing on the 45 percent toll increase for trucks proposed by the Cuomo administration’s Thruway Authority.

The state ethics board held a closed door meeting Tuesday. The Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE, is believed to be discussing whether to investigate Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez, and possibly the Assembly Speaker, over a sexual harassment scandal.

The state’s ethics board has called a special meeting immediately after Labor Day. The news comes after Governor Andrew Cuomo and others have called for an investigation of a sexual harassment scandal in the State Assembly.

There are signs that the New York state’s finances are getting healthier, but local governments in New York continue to flounder.

The gender gap looms large in the upcoming election.  Depending on the polls you look at, women support Democrats over Republicans by 10 to 20 percent but that does not necessarily mean the GOP is abandoning the women's vote, especially in the hotly contested 24th Congressional district race.

The Republican federal budget proposal is being targeted by a Washington-based movement called Nuns on the Bus. Earlier this month, a group of nuns and others from local faith communities traveled around Syracuse in a school bus to spread their message in solidarity with the movement.

A rare apology from one of New York’s most powerful Democratic leaders regarding a payout to alleged victims of sexual harassment is raising even more questions at the state Capitol. Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he welcomes an impending ethics probe.  

Rep. Bill Owens (D-Plattsburgh) is making Medicare a big issue in his race with Republican Matt Doheny.

Senior citizens vote at higher rates than the rest of the population.  So they’ll be key to the eventual winner of the North Country’s 21st Congressional district.  And issues important to seniors, like health care law and Medicare, will take front stage until November.

Owens’ campaign has been ratcheting up the debate with Doheny on Medicare.

Congressman Bill Owens has released the first television advertisement of his re-election campaign --  a day after his Republican opponent Matt Doheny did.