Maziarz and the erosion of the Senate Republicans

[hrmjustin]

Jimmy Vielkind and Josefa Velasquez

ALBANY—State Senator George Maziarz's seemingly sudden retirement is the latest in a pattern: He's the fourth G.O.P. incumbent senator to pass on running for re-election this year, citing personal reasons people close to him say have percolated for years.

There's also the cloud of an investigation into unitemized campaign spending—a “hangover” from the now-defunct anti-corruption Moreland Commission, as one Republican source put it—that led two of the Niagara County senator's longtime aides to resign on Thursday. An attorney for the senator's chief of staff confirmed to reporters on Monday that the aide had been served with a subpoena by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, where U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara inherited the Moreland Commission's files and has aggressively pursued cases against state lawmakers.

Rumors swirled Monday that other Republicans—Senator John Bonacic in the Hudson Valley or perhaps Senator Pat Gallivan of Erie County—would also be jumping ship. Those proved to be untrue.

But whichever exact mixture of pressures that brought it about, Maziarz's retirement underscores a uniquely Republican problem in a state that grows bluer every year: Whenever one of the G.O.P.'s increasingly aging senators walks, their seat almost always becomes competitive. The G.O.P. is defending two open seats on Long Island, left by the surprise retirement of Chuck Fuschillo and a congressional bid by Lee Zeldin. In the Hudson Valley, incumbent Greg Ball waved off of a re-match against Justin Wagner.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/07/8548902/maziarz-and-erosion-senate-republicans?top-featured-1

[hrmjustin]

1. Maziarz aide subpoenaed in probe

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Maziarz-aide-subpoenaed-in-probe-5621488.php