Elections for the U.S Senate will be held on November 7, 2006.The Senate is currently composed of 55 Republicans, who have been in the majority since 2003, 44 Democrats, and one Democratic-leaning Independent being former Republican Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Jeffords is retiring and his seat is one of the 33 seats being contested, while another 17 are held by Democrats and 15 are held by Republicans.
A total of 33 out of 100 seats will be contested as senators are elected for 6-year terms with one-third of the seats up for a vote every two years. Therefore the term of office for those elected in 2006 will be from January 3, 2007 until January 3, 2013.
The NY State Senate Elections consist of the following candidates:
- Democratic Party: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Republican Party: Former Mayor John Spencer
- Socialist Party: Bill Van Auken
- Green Party: Howie Hawkins
- Libertarian Party:Jeff Russell
- Independent Party: Boris Krymskiy
Now try to match the candidate's picture with their correct name:
Here is a briefing on the 2006 N.Y State Senate Candidates:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947,
is the junior United States Senator from New York, started serving term since January 3, 2001.
She is married to Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States
during his two terms from 1993 to 2001. Before that, she was a lawyer and the First Lady of Arkansas.
Current incumbent Senator elected in 2000 after defeating opponent Congressman Rick Lazio. One of the issues Senator Clinton has spoken
out against very strongly is the opposition she takes to the use of torture against suspected terrorists,
"By allowing this Administration to further stretch the definition of what is and is not torture, we lower our moral standards
to those whom we despise, undermine the values of our flag wherever it flies, put our troops in danger, and jeopardize our moral strength
in a conflict that cannot be won simply with military might."
John Spencer is the former Mayor of Yonkers, New York (1995-2003) and Republican nominee
for the U.S. Senate seat held byDemocrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. Prior to entering politics as a member
of the Yonkers City Council in 1991, he worked in retail, food service, construction, waste management and banking.
On March 6, 2006, he was endorsed by Congressman Vito Fossella. He is the current party designee after the convention on May 31, 2006.
Amongst some of his strongest issues rank his outspeaking against Iran, in what he believes is world peace. The following quotes from a
letter he recently wrote to Senator Clinton in asking her to support President Bush in his clashes with Iran.
"I implore you, for the good of the nation and for the sake of innocent people through-out the Middle East, including the citizens of Israel,
to please reverse your stance and support President Bush's call to place tougher sanctions on Iran. It is the right thing to do for America,
and it is the right thing to do for world peace."
Bill Van Auken is a full time writer for the World Socialist Web Site and the 2004 Socialist Equality Party candidate for U.S. President.
A quote from an article he published on the WS Site speaks out against suspected terror plots, particularly a recent one in Miami
"There are many incongruities surrounding the arrest of seven men from the impoverished Liberty City neighborhood of Miami on charges of conspiracy
to wage war on the United States, that suggest it, like so many previous terrorist plots announced by the Bush administration, is a government-inspired provocation mounted for reactionary political ends."
Howie Hawkins is the Green Party candididate and an American politician and activist. He co-founded the anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976
and the Green Party in the United States in 1984. He is currently that party's candidate for the U.S. Senate in the State of New York. A main campaign issue of his is
stopping the war in Iraq as soon as possible and he believes he can accomplish this issue much better than Senator Clinton by saying,
"Hillary Clinton is a war hawk on Iraq and now Iran. She voted for every Bush request for war powers, war funding and the erosion of civil liberties by the so-called Patriot Acts."
Jeff Russell was nominated as the official Libertarian Party candidate for United States Senate at the LPNY Convention on April 29th, 2006 in Albany, New York.
Russell's campaign slogan is "A Vote for Peace and Liberty is Never a Wasted Vote." He also takes a stance against Senator Clinton's position on Iraq by saying,
"She has supported the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act and Homeland Security, and I am very much opposed to all of those things. She has supported all these things,
and now tries to make it look like George Bush and the Republicans bear all the responsibility. These are the issues I plan to focus on during my campaign.
By supporting these things she has helped to greatly erode the civil liberties of the American people, and if she is elected to a second term, I expect her to continue her attacks on our liberties."
Boris Krymskiy is the Independent party candidate, however there have not been any extensive reports on him.