Locally, Republican resurgence has been more subtle.
That is because it has occurred behind the backdrop of the continued fratricidal strife within the Monroe County Democratic Committee. It has been an endless source of mirth for those of us who no longer take most politicians seriously.
The combatants are the elitist, pseudo-liberal Morelle-Clifford faction of the party, opposing the black oriented Gantt-Warren clique.
The split was best illustrated by the mayoral election of 2013.
Lovely Warren won the Democratic primary election. Joe Morelle, then chairman of the MCDC, was downright bitter after her victory, and less than gracious during the remainder of the campaign. Molly Clifford and her boy-toy Ken Warner continued to support Tom Richards, who was on the ballot as the Independent candidate.
Warren won, and many people questioned whether or not Morelle was fit to remain as Democratic chairman, given his behavior during the campaign.
Amid such criticism, Morelle chose not to run for re-election as chairman, and the race was on to grab his tarnished crown from the gutter.
Dave Garretson, leader of the Democrats in the Town of Greece ( where Republicans are dominant ), won the chairmanship.
Dave Garretson needs all of the introduction he can get.
A friendly, likeable oaf, Garretson never won an elected office in the Town of Greece, nor had any Democratic candidates he ever supported won, either. He knows nothing about the power-politics within Rochester other than the Democratic Party controls the city.
The Democrats also control the Town of Brighton.
It has been said that Brighton, with its large Jewish population, would more easily elect an Adolf Hitler with a "D" in front of his name rather than a Moses with an "R."
That statement might be vile, but vileness doesn't make it any less true.
Within weeks of winning the chairmanship, it was evident to all that Garretson had been left holding a very large, empty paper bag.
Democrat Ted O'Brien lost his state senate seat to Republican Rich Funke, giving the Republicans control of that body.
It could hardly have been otherwise.
In 2012, O'Brien only won against Republican Sean Hanna because people personally disliked Hanna, not because O'Brien was the better candidate.
In office, O'Brien wasn't very convincing.
In 2014, O'Brien's handlers resurrected their campaign against Hanna, only Funke wasn't Hanna, and their methods didn't work this time. Moreover, they forgot that the state senate seat in question had been Republican for years, and O'Brien's election to it in 2012 was the anomaly.
Even more telling was the case of Democratic Congresswoman Lulubelle Slaughter. She had been in Congress for three or four thousand years without accomplishing anything for this area. That didn't stop the Democrats from making her a sacred cow and elevating her to sainthood.
"Saint" Louise was opposed by a Republican dark horse, Mark Assini from the Town of Gates.
Assini was an unknown quantity, hardly supported by the county GOP and underfunded, yet it took a count of absentee ballots to determine that Lulubelle won re-election on by a scant six hundred votes.
It catapulted Assini to national prominence even if he lost the election campaign. And if the county GOP had been really supportive of Assini, he would have sent Lulubelle packing.
That fact has been a source of embarrassment to "Saint" Louise, and even Democrats are questioning whether or not it is time for her to pack it in.
As I have stated, Republican resurgence in this area has been subtle.
A second Republican state senator from this area has given Republicans control of the state senate; a new Republican star was narrowly defeated by a Democratic sacred cow; and the Democrats have saddled themselves with a chairman who really doesn't know what he is doing.
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