GOP Now Holds 16-13 Majority in County Legislature
Monroe County Legislator Carmen Gumina announced this morning that he is leaving the Democratic Party to join the Republican caucus of the Monroe County Legislature.
Elected to represent Webster as a Democrat in 2007, when he defeated then-incumbent Dave Malta, Gumina appeared this morning at Monroe County Republican Headquarters with County Executive Maggie Brooks and Republican Chairman Bill Reilich, who welcomed the legislator into the party.
The step makes a great deal of sense for the highly-regarded Gumina. In our Almanac of Monroe County Politics for 2007, we wrote:
Democratic challenger Carmen Gumina came straight out of central casting as exactly the kind of person a party wants to run. Gumina is a well-spoken, educated professional, pleasantly presentable, possessing a broad community base gained from years as a teacher and school principal.
Representing a predominantly Republican district, from time to time Gumina has supported Republican initiatives in the legislature that his Democratic colleagues opposed en bloc. He was the only Democratic legislator to vote for the 2010 County Budget that kept the property tax rate flat.
When Gumina lent his popularity to the support of Democratic candidates for Town and Village offices in Webster, it couldn't overcome the burden of the local candidates' party affiliation. All went down to defeat. For Legislator Gumina, these experiences surely must have underscored the problem of out-of-sync party affiliation in Webster.
In addition, Gumina had to know that, as a Democratic incumbent in a Republican district, he would have been one of the top targets in legislative redistricting that must occur early next year, and that the Republican majority will control.
On top of which, like the neighbors he represents, Mr. Gumina, in the votes we discussed above and otherwise, seemed to be showing what appeared to be more philosophical affinity with the majority Republicans than with his old party.
A smart move for a capable and admired legislator, and another milestone in the success story of Chairman Bill Reilich's leadership of the Monroe County Republican Party.
4 comments:
Another chink in the Morelle armor.
Gumina's switch is a direct result of last fall's excellent campaign work by the local GOP
Steve who????? Reilich is guiding the machine through what were troubled waters. He makes it look easy. Just ask little Joe how easy it really is! Just because it looks easy it isn't. The MC GOP is moving rapidly in the right direction.
Anonymous-3:
Couldn't agree more. We'll be looking at Mr. Reilich's quite stellar record as Chairman in an upcoming post.
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