By: Shahael Myrthil
In the days leading up to the election, Billionaire cosmetic heirs are looking to shake things up in the State Senate, primarily dominated by Democratic. Stats shows that the 2018 midterms were mostly seized by Democrats, and with how things are shaping up, it looks like next month’s election will continue to perpetuate New York’s dismal view of Donald Trump. Ronald S. Lauder, billionaire cosmetic heir, is looking to eradicate those efforts though. He has put millions of dollars of his money into his new independent expenditure group, that Democrats believe would help sway the electoral votes in Trump’s favor.
According to published reports, Lauder’s group titled, Safe Together New York, have pledged $2.9 million towards radio, digital and television advertisements specifically targeting six State Senate races, four of which include Democratic officials.
On their website, they state that their main goal is to fight back reformed criminal justice laws that give many criminals a pass at serving time in jail for any non-violent crimes committed, any therefore putting civilians’ lives at risk, according to published reports. They went on to state that they want politicians elected that will keep New York safe.
Democrats suspect Lauder and his groups have a different agenda in mind, especially when you put into account that 40 of the 63 sets in the State Senate are filled by Democrats. They believe that their core mission is to try to put an end to them winning a two-thirds supermajority.
A supermajority would give Legislatures power to push further on initiatives, even if they were initially vetoed, without the stamped approval of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat serving his third term. During his first two terms in office, Cuomo had worked with Republicans, according to the NY Times. Like the State Senate, The State Assembly is dominated by Democrats. A Democratic supermajority would give the Legislature the upperhand when it comes to majority decisions surroundings budget negotiations in Albany, which Mr. Cuomo has had most control during his terms.
In recent years, talks about budgets have opened the floor to possibly more taxes imposed on the rich, a concept that the governor is not in favor of. Lauder has been a long-time supporter of Trump, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump and conservative causes that Trump’s committee have been involved in. NY Times cited $100,000 that Lauder donated to two of Trump’s re-election committees and another check for $100,000 submitted to the Republican National Committee in August 2019) —which would help Republicans candidates struggling to collect enough funding for their campaigns.
The same source above cited that the most recent Campaign finance report showed a million dollars poured into the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee, a stark contrast to Democrats’ campaign committee that had almost three times that amount.
