As 2010 comes to a close, the Brooklyn GOP has a lot to be happy about. The re-election of state Senator Marty Golden and the elections of crossover candidates Nicole Malliotakis to the NY State Assembly and Michael Grimm to the U.S. Congress are the tip of the iceberg, as the certified results from the NYC Board of Elections shows that candidates who ran in districts comprising of all or a part of Brooklyn had stronger showing than the previous mid-term election cycle - and even improved on the results in previous races. First, the results:
To the uninitiated and uninformed, these numbers have little significance. After all, only Senator Golden, an incumbent, broke the 50% mark. But, there is much to be happy about. First, Republicans were competitive in more races in more areas than have been in previous memory. Second, several races were unexpectedly competitive - the 45th Assembly, 48th Assembly, the 9th Congressional and the 8th Congressional all trailblazed new fertile Republican ground, while the other listed all showed marked improvement on previous totals:
The 2010 class of candidates showed improved in both vote tally and percentage of vote (with the exception of the 13th Congressional, which overtook an multiple-term incumbent in vote total, but not percentage - but a significant feat considering Mr. Grimm was a first-time candidate!) Now, consider this:
This year's candidates improved on the voter percentage of the 2008 candidates - who all ran in a Presidential election year, where voter turnout (and more importantly for this particular election cycle - Democratic voter turnout) was significantly increased.
Thus, in each of these districts, Republicans have been steadily gaining ground during the entirety of Chairman Eaton's tenure. Numbers don't lie - under his leadership, the party has improved in areas where it traditionally performs well, and has seen significant growth in new neighborhoods.
One of the other main reasons for the improvement has been Marty Golden. Each of these districts overlap with his Senatorial District in one way or another, and Marty has been more than gracious in lending support to each of the campaigns.
Another significant point is that many of these communities now boast a Jewish neighborhood that is decidedly voting Republican, which is particularly unique in the context of the national rising tide which we hear so much about in the news. Thanks to candidates and campaigns reaching out to them, Republicans in the 45th A.D., the 48th A.D. and the 49th A.D. found untapped support - which went up and down Row B. Consider:
Statewide candidates won multiple assembly districts, including traditional Republican strongholds and the above-mentioned districts benefiting from this new Jewish conservatism.
So what should we take away from this election cycle? Things are moving in the right direction, but the job is far from over. We should all celebrate this improvement, as it has come as a result of the hard work of our candidates and leaders in these areas, but we need more hands on deck and must keep on working in 2011.
But for the remainder of 2010, the Brooklyn GOP can confidently look back at a job well done.
See that new MP3 Player on the right column over there? Yeah, right there under the BlogTalkRadio widget... that's our new feature! 
To the uninitiated and uninformed, these numbers have little significance. After all, only Senator Golden, an incumbent, broke the 50% mark. But, there is much to be happy about. First, Republicans were competitive in more races in more areas than have been in previous memory. Second, several races were unexpectedly competitive - the 45th Assembly, 48th Assembly, the 9th Congressional and the 8th Congressional all trailblazed new fertile Republican ground, while the other listed all showed marked improvement on previous totals:
The 2010 class of candidates showed improved in both vote tally and percentage of vote (with the exception of the 13th Congressional, which overtook an multiple-term incumbent in vote total, but not percentage - but a significant feat considering Mr. Grimm was a first-time candidate!) Now, consider this:
This year's candidates improved on the voter percentage of the 2008 candidates - who all ran in a Presidential election year, where voter turnout (and more importantly for this particular election cycle - Democratic voter turnout) was significantly increased.