In New York’s 29th congressional district, three citizens are attempting to sue Gov. David Paterson in an effort to compel the governor to declare the NY-29 seat vacant and schedule a special election to replace former Rep. Eric Massa.
(I examined how Paterson had deemed congressional representation for this corner of New York an optional luxury in this article.)
Paterson’s latest “reasoning”:
Gov. David Paterson doesn’t want to hold a special election for the 29th Congressional District. He addressed the topic briefly when speaking to the media Tuesday. Senate Republicans, meanwhile on Wednesday, introduced a resolution calling on the governor to call one.
“After July I’m not allowed to call a special election. We have an issue regarding the absentee ballot for citizens serving in the military,” Paterson said. “My initial feeling is that it would also be very costly to call a special election. We can have a primary and general election, which is the standard way to go. That’s my intent, though I haven’t reached a final decision, but that’s generally how I feel about it.”
You’ll notice it’s not July, and that July is almost two months away. Without a special election, this district will go more than 300 days without representation in the U.S. House.
The state that spends billions cannot find $700,000 to ensure a district has representation. Of course, I’m sure the fact that Republican Tom Reed would be favored in a special election has nothing to do with his decision.