American political parties are coalitions of local and regional segments. As recent elections have shown the strongest elements in an election are the independent voters not affiliated with one of the major parties. In some cases, the independents form fifty-percent of the voters. Sometimes the independents do not pay much attention to local candidates compared with elections for president, governor or senator. Thus, often national and state legislatures may be Democratic while the president or the governor may be Republican (basing districts on population rather than actual voters plays a part).
Until the last elections for state offices, the Republicans controlled the New York state senate for forty years due to the election of Republican state senators from New York City districts. Now the Democrats in Albany will have complete control over the redistricting following the 2010 census. This will make it more difficult for the Republicans to regain elections to the lost seats. One historic example was the northeast quadrant of the county of The Bronx in New York City. This Pelham Bay area borders Long Island Sound. It is a district of home owners with many church schools. Near my former home was Our Savior Lutheran grammar and high school. In the famous 1946 elections which gave the Republicans control of the US Congress after the New Deal, the district elected Republican David M. Potts to the US Congress and Paul A. Fino to the NY state senate. In 1948 Potts lost his seat, but Fino held his seat. In 1952 Paul Fino won the US congressional seat and held it until retiring in 1969. He opposed new government programs of the Johnson administration, such as poverty programs and school busing. He challenged the Republican mayor, John Lindsay, who had represented Manhattan in the US Congress. He criticized Lindsay’s slogan of Fun City. Fino as Bronx Republican leader declared: “Republicans of Bronx County want No Fun Riots, Fun Taxes, Fun Crimes, Fun Mayor.” Lindsay won re-election as mayor without the Republican nomination and soon became a Democrat. Fino went on to a seat on the New York Supreme Court (not the highest court).
Because Fino provided strong constituency services, one of his young assistants, Kevin Philips, emphasized a moderation to Fino. Kevin Philips’ The Emerging Republican Majority (1969) became a bible for Nixon-era Republicans. Philips underestimated the low tax, home-owner base of successful Republicans such as Paul FIno, although Fino was mostly soft-spoken. Paul Fino died in mid-2009 at the age of 95.
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