How can one predict which County, Statewide and Federal candidates will get an editorial tonguebath from the Register-Star this election season?
Easy: If the candidate’s last name isn’t either Cuomo or Schumer (who are locks for Governor and Senator) or Gillibrand (who’s nominally a local resident), it’s a fair bet that the paper will endorse the Republican. Here’s a list of their picks so far:
- CONGRESS: Gibson (GOP) over Murphy
- STATE SENATE: Saland (GOP) over Barrett
- ASSEMBLY: Molinaro (GOP) over Tooker
- COUNTY CLERK: Tanner (GOP) over Donahoe
- CORONER: Blasi-Simonsmeier (GOP) over Davis
Of course, there’s still time for the paper to show some token balance with a Democratic endorsement for Attorney General... But don’t hold your breath. And if they bother to make pics for Governor or Senator, those will surely go to the three Democrats—if only because there’s little utility in promoting either of the sure losers running against them.
Very often, local papers make calculated choices based on who they expect to win, more than who is the worthier candidate, in order to curry favor and secure press access for the future. Here’s hoping that cynical gambit backfires in at least a few of the races above.
One can get a sense of which races the paper fears may be close from the number of bet-hedging phrases the editorialists deploy (e.g., “Both Gibson and Murphy are bright men,” “County residents are fortunate to have two well-qualified candidates [for Coroner]”).
Meanwhile, the question of whether such endorsements swing more than a handful of votes—the Register’s circulation is tiny compared to the County population—is itself worthy of a debate.
UPDATE: The Register has now also endorsed the GOP candidate for Attorney General..
