3 takeaways on NY elections: A historic win in Yonkers, upstate incumbents triumph

It was a mixed night for both parties in county and local elections across New York, showing no clear direction for its political winds except maybe against the backs of incumbents.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Monroe County Executive Adam Bello, both of them Democrats, sailed to re-election by big margins in two of the state's larger counties on Tuesday, according to unofficial results. But so did Ryan McMahon, their Republican counterpart to the east in Onondaga County.

In the Hudson Valley, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, a Democrat, easily won a historic fourth term, and Democrats held their majorities on the Westchester and Rockland county legislatures. Republicans, on the other hand, continued their decades-long hold on the Dutchess County executive's seat, with former state Sen. Sue Serino winning it handily.

Here are a few takeaways from Tuesday and what they may portend for 2024, when a bevy of competitive congressional races from Long Island to Syracuse will be on the ballot.

GOP made sporadic attacks on Dems for migrant situation

New York City's struggle to house thousands of steadily arriving asylum seekers and its attempt to move some to upstate hotels has been a dominant political issue this year. But the topic arose only sporadically in campaigns around the state, most of which has been unaffected by the city's transfers of migrants.

When it came up, Republicans raised the issue to proclaim their opposition and blame Democrats.

In Erie County, Poloncarz was criticized for welcoming asylum seekers to his county and the subsequent arrests of two who were accused of sexual offenses in their hotels. In Rockland County, which sued New York City to stop the placement of migrants, signs declared that "Orangetown is not NYC" and urged voters to support GOP candidates.

Republicans hope the migrants issue will be potent for them in next year's House races. But its use in Tuesday's county and municipal races was too limited to judge how it will play in 2024.

Two statewide ballot questions pass by large margins

Voters resoundingly approved two statewide ballot questions that affect debt limits for municipalities and certain school districts.

One will give the state’s 57 small-city districts more spending leeway for construction work and other projects by removing an outdated constitutional provision that set their borrowing limit lower than that of other school systems.

Their debt limit will now be the same, enabling them to accrue debt up to 10% of the total tax value of properties in their district. Beneficiaries are districts that contain cities with fewer than 125,000 people, including White Plains, Utica, Newburgh and Binghamton.

The other proposal that voters approved will renew for 10 years a temporary constitutional provision that enables local governments to exclude sewer projects from their debt limits. Exempting those large expenses from their limits frees up borrowing rooms for other priorities.

That exclusion began in 1963 but must be renewed every 10 years.

Republicans completed their lock on Long Island

The GOP seized Democrats' last major vestige of power in a suburban region that swung red. Ed Romaine, a Republican who has held office in Suffolk County for decades and leads a town of nearly 500,000 people there, easily beat a Democrat with no political experience in a race for Suffolk County executive.

Republicans could boast of flipping control of an office that Democrat Steve Bellone held for 12 years. But Romaine was the clear favorite as a longtime office holder and town supervisor for the last 10 years in Brookhaven, which makes up nearly a third of Suffolk's population.

And his victory may have little bearing on whether Republicans can hang onto congressional seats next year in neighboring Nassau County, particularly a Democratic-leaning one held by embattled Rep. George Santos. The GOP currently holds all four congressional seats on Long Island and both county executive seats once Romaine takes office.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY elections: 3 takeaways from Tuesday's races as NY sets up for 2024