A political tactic once used by NY Governor Cuomo could save our Democracy in a worst case scenario

[Tom Rinaldo]

I found myself thinking about this today as I pondered the nightmare scenario being advanced by Trump. Specifically, having Republican State Legislatures in critical swing states halt the count of mail in votes in those States and/or declare the November election invalid for one or more "reasons", followed by their naming of Trump supporters as presidential electors while disregarding the actual popular vote. I remembered an event from the not so distant history of New York State.

The year was 2011 and much of the nation was grappling with the issue of legalizing same sex marriages. The passage of the Marriage Equality Act of 2011 made New York State "the sixth state in the United States to legalize and retain the in-state certification and legalization of same-sex marriage (excluding California, which legalized and performed some 18,000 same-sex marriages before a ban on further marriages was promulgated through referendum), and also made the state the most populous in the union to do so" - Wikipedia. But in order to win passage, this act had to win approval in the New York State Senate which at that time was under Republican Control.

Same sex marriages was still very much a hot button social issue for most Republicans in New York State in 2011. In May 2011, the Conservative Party of New York State stated that it would withdraw support for any candidate who supported same-sex marriage. Any Republican state senator who defied the Republican conservative base on that issue faced the likelihood of severe electoral retribution from conservative voters, should they vote for Marriage Equality and then seek reelection to their seats. Fear of that type of retribution contributed to the defeat of a similar effort to legalize same sex marriage in 2009, when Republicans in the NY State Senate opposed it unanimously. However the Marriage Equality Act of 2011 did pass the Republican State Senate by a vote of 33-29 with only one Democrat opposing it and four Republicans supporting it.

What went on behind the scenes before that historic vote could well be called back room politics with a full measure of wheeling and dealing and certain "understandings reached". I'm no political reporter with extensive insider sources so I can only relate what I remember from that time, and subsequent news coverage of the aftermath. The four Republican state senators who voted for same sex marriage in 2011 were Sens. James Alesi, Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald, and Stephen Saland. On October 19, 2012 Andrew Cuomo endorsed Stephen Salad for reelection:

Cuomo Backs Republican Who Voted For Marriage Equality
"Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York endorsed Senator Stephen Saland for reelection Thursday, marking the first time the popular Democrat has backed a member of the Republican Party.

Saland provided one of four Republican votes for the marriage equality legislation that passed the GOP-controlled state senate last year. His vote became an issue in his primary campaign, which he narrowly won last month. The twelve-term incumbent now faces a three-way general election contest.

"The governor believes that one of the problems in our political system is the influence of extremists on both sides of the aisle," said Cuomo spokesman Matthew Wing, according to the Associated Press. "He is endorsing Senator Saland because he has consistently had the courage to do what was right despite political challenges, especially when it came to voting for marriage equality."
https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2012/10/19/cuomo-backs-republican-who-voted-marriage-equality

Saland had a Republican primary challenge from Neil Di Carlo, which Saland won by a margin of 107 votes. Di Carlo continued his campaign as the candidate of the Conservative Party, and Saland lost the general election to Democrat Terry Gipson by a margin of 2,096 votes. Di Carlo acted as a spoiler, receiving 17,300 votes on the Conservative line. Democratic Governor Cuomo also offered his enforcement to Roy McDonald for an Independent run after McDonald lost his Republican Party primary battle by a narrow margin:

NY Republican Won't Run Despite Cuomo Endorsement
"Governor Andrew Cuomo even offered to back Sen. Roy McDonald if he chose to continue as a third-party candidate, and a poll released by marriage equality advocates indicated the effort could be successful."

"New York State Senator Roy McDonald will not try making a third-party run after losing his Republican primary, at least in part because of his vote for marriage equality in the state. The two-term incumbent announced the decision today after losing his primary by about 100 votes, or less than 1% of the vote, in the low turnout contest on September 13."
https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2012/09/27/cuomo-offers-endorsement-new-york-republican-defeated-primary?pg=full

Republican State Senator Grisanti won his Republican primary in 2012, defeating attorney Kevin Stocker by 59% to 40%. He then went on to secure victory in the General Election, defeating both his Democratic and Conservative Party opponents seemingly without need of a Cuomo endorsement. On May 9, 2012, Senator Alesi announced that he would not run for re-election. He stated that many factors, including the welfare of the Republican Party, led to his decision. But the story does not end there. Subsequent developments in the careers of these four Republican politicians bear noting.

"In 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Alesi to a $90,000-per-year post[78] on the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board.[79]

In 2015, Gov. Cuomo appointed Grisanti to the New York State Court of Claims. Grisanti's appointment was confirmed by the New York State Senate in May 2015.[80] The reported salary for the judgeship was $174,000.[81]

In 2016, Gov. Cuomo appointed Saland to the board of the state Thruway Authority.[82]

In June 2017, Gov. Cuomo nominated Alesi to a $109,800-per-year[83] position on the state's Public Service Commission; the Senate confirmed his appointment"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Equality_Act_(New_York).

The only one of the four Republican state senators who voted for the Marriage Equality Act of 2011 who did not receive a subsequent appointment from Governor Cuomo was Roy McDonald, who not only declined Governor Cuomo's offer of an endorsement, but endorsed the conservative who defeated him in the Republican primary instead. There are some who may consider this political backstory to the passage of the 2011 Marriage Equality Act to be sordid, and I may well be among those. I know that the aspect of a Democratic Governor supporting incumbent Republican candidates over more progressive Democratic challengers was controversial in many progressive circles at the time. Cuomo's subsequent political appointments to Republicans who backed the passage of marriage equality legislation flew a little bit more under the radar.

I am so called "saying right out loud" here something that normally should not be so openly discussed mostly because I know I can. I am an obscure blogger with no formal ties to either elected Democrats or Democratic candidates for office. But maybe, just maybe, this will catch the eye of some people with insider credentials greater than mine. If it does, I hope someone is, behind closed doors, feeling out what type of support it would take from key Democrats to get the needed handful of Republican members of Republican majority State Legislatures to break with their political party to support honoring the will of the people of their states. There is nothing radical about counting all the ballots and letting the people choose who become that State's presidential electors, not unless Democracy itself is deemed too radical.