Legislators Tainted by Scandal Find Defeat at the Polls
<h6 class="byline">By WINNIE HU and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM</h6><h6 class="dateline">Published: September 14, 2012</h6>
In a state with a scant history of electoral upsets, it was not in any job description, but it might as well have been: Once an incumbent, always an incumbent.
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The results of Democratic primaries on Thursday turned the tide, though, on job guarantees for those in Albany facing financial-wrongdoing inquiries.
Two incumbents — Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera of the Bronx and State Senator Shirley L. Huntley of Queens — lost after being embroiled in scandals that were tabloid fodder for weeks leading up to the election.
A third incumbent, Assemblyman William F. Boyland Jr. of Brooklyn, who is facing federal bribery charges, won his race, though with less support than some expected for a son of a prominent political family.
“People have had it with candidates who are tainted and bring dishonor to their community,” said George Arzt, a political consultant, adding that in recent years, voters have set higher expectations for politicians. “I think more and more voters are looking for bright new faces who care about them and not about themselves.”
That was echoed by Vishnu Mahadeo, a Queens businessman, who said that he thought Ms. Huntley had been in office “much too long.” Ms. Huntley, first elected to the Senate in 2006, was charged last month with conspiring to help a niece and an aide steal taxpayer money directed to a nonprofit agency that Ms. Huntley had founded. Ms. Huntley and her co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Mahadeo, who is president of the Richmond Hill Economic Development Council, contributed $4,000 to Ms. Huntley’s opponent, City Councilman James Sanders Jr. Mr. Sanders won the primary with 57 percent of the vote; Ms. Huntley received 40 percent.
Basil Smikle, a political strategist, said voters had less patience now for elected officials accused of misappropriating taxpayer money because so many voters were struggling to pay their own bills in a tough economy.
“They don’t want to see you doing well on their backs,” Mr. Smikle said.
In addition, others said, even relatively minor transgressions can loom large over elections when they are magnified through the lens of countless news media outlets, Web sites and blogs. “Scandals have never been good,” said Jerry Skurnik, a political consultant. “Now, with the 24-hour news cycle, it’s even worse. You never want to be involved in a scandal.”
Ms. Rivera is being investigated after The New York Post reported that she may have misused her position and taxpayer funds to hire her current and former boyfriends. She has not been charged with a crime, and she could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Ms. Rivera was defeated in the primary, 52 percent to 41 percent, by Mark Gjonaj, a real estate agent and community activist who was a first-time political candidate. She has served in the Assembly since 2005 and comes from a powerful Bronx political family: she is a daughter of Jose Rivera, an assemblyman and Bronx political leader, and a sister of City Councilman Joel Rivera.
Zef Balaj, a Bronx resident, said that while the corruption allegations “didn’t help” Ms. Rivera, he, like other voters, had also grown dissatisfied with what he saw as her lackluster record. “She really did not deliver to the constituents,” Mr. Balaj said.
Gjon Chota, a real estate broker in the area who knows Mr. Gjonaj, concurred: “She hasn’t done much, so somebody has to step to the plate.”
In Brooklyn, however, voters were willing to give Mr. Boyland another chance even though he was arrested last year on bribery charges, less than three weeks after being acquitted in a different bribery case.
Mr. Boyland, who has pleaded not guilty, held off six challengers to win his race, with 37 percent of the vote.
Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College, said that Mr. Boyland had the name recognition and resources to dilute the impact of the bribery charges. “He won in spite of being under a cloud and very wet,” he said. “He had an organizational advantage that no one else could overcome.”
Some political consultants also pointed out that Mr. Boyland had a reprieve because unlike Ms. Rivera and Ms. Huntley, the investigation of him did not surface right before he ran for re-election.
“If you have a scandal,” Mr. Arzt said, “don’t let it be in your election year.”
