Politics

WRVO News provided regional coverage of election night during live cut-ins of NPR's national election coverage. Our reporting covered three congressional districts, Assembly races, the balance of the state legislature, and the U.S. Senate race.

We believe our coverage was comprehensive, fair and up-to-the-minute, but also thoughtful and analytical. Given our large region and small staff, we are proud of the service we provided our listeners.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s championing of strict new gun control laws in New York state has taken a toll on his popularity. A new poll finds that for the first time since taking office, Cuomo’s approval rating has dropped significantly.

The New York state legislature is passing the toughest in the nation gun control laws laid out by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Senate voted late Monday evening , and the Assembly is expected to act Tuesday morning.

Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle recently ended her term the way she first ran for the office—standing up for conservative principles. She voted against the fiscal cliff compromise, on the grounds that it did not address the deficit and government over-spending.  But she was defeated last November by Dan Maffei, the man she unseated in 2010.

Congress seems to have reached a deal to stop milk prices from rising to a warned about $6 a gallon in the New Year, but it's unclear if it will be voted on before the end of 2012.

He won't be sworn in until January, but congressman-elect Dan Maffei is carefully watching the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington.

A potentially significant new chapter in New York's political history will be written in January, as the State Senate's Independent Democratic Caucus joins with the Republican Caucus to form a coalition majority.  On this edition of the Campbell Conversations, State Senator Dave Valesky, a founding member of the Independent Democratic group, discusses how this new arrangement will work, and why joining with the Republicans may actually bring more progressive pieces of legislation to the Senate floor.

The leadership fight in the New York state Senate has been resolved, with a break-away Democratic faction joining with Republicans to form a new governing coalition that involves sharing the title of Temporary President of the Senate. 

Senate Republicans have gained one more member in the fight for control of the chamber. Newly elected Brooklyn Democrat Simcha Felder says he’ll sit with the GOP.

After the barrage of negative campaign ads, nightly robo calls, and daily mailers, most central New Yorkers are probably thinking, Whew!  Glad that’s over.  But the time after “the day after” has just begun.

Republican congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle stepped out of the federal office building in downtown Syracuse this afternoon, gave county party chair Tom Dadey a hug, and conceded the race for New York's 24th Congressional District to Democrat Dan Maffei.