Darrel Aubertine - Political Career

Political Career

On February 26, 2008 he won an upset victory in the predominantly Republican 48th district of the New York State Senate. Prior to serving in the state senate he served on the Cape Vincent town council from 1994 to 1996. In 1996 he was elected to the Jefferson County legislature where he served until 2002 when he was elected to the New York State Assembly representing the 118th district. He is the only farmer serving in the New York state Legislature and the only Democrat in the state Senate that represents exclusively rural areas; he is one of five Democrats in the Senate to represent a region of Upstate New York.

He defeated Republican William Barclay, partially because Barclay's family profited from their privately owned stretch of the Salmon River, by charging local fishermen and anglers $30 for access, which had previously been free. Aubertine carries significant crossover appeal among Republicans and Independents enabling him to win election in the most Republican district in the State Senate.

Aubertine was endorsed by the Working Families Party as well, and received help from the Working Families Party canvass staff, which paid college students and others from the area, bringing in select staff from other parts of New York State to work Get Out The Vote operations throughout the district, a practice they would repeat in the November election. The Senator declined the Working Families Party's assistance and ballot line for the 2010 election.

Soon after being elected in February, he was successful in securing $250 million for improvements at State University of New York campuses in Oswego and Canton. He worked to secure large increases in school aid and $10 million in infrastructure aid for the areas surrounding Fort Drum. He also brought in $390,000 in member items for projects in the three counties he represents.

In the November campaign, the Senator was criticized for hiring his sister to his staff in violation of State ethics law, though he corrected the problem when notified of the conflict after just a few weeks on the job and later paid back the money she received. Partisan dysfunction in the Senate became an issue after bills he sponsored passed in the Assembly but did not come to a vote on the Senate floor as opponents claimed he did not file the proper paperwork. The bills were, however, delivered to the Senate Rules Committee then-led by the Republican Majority Leader, who chose not to move them.

On June 22, 2008, the Watertown Daily Times cited unnamed sources to say that Gov. David Paterson's office offered Aubertine a job to head the New York Power Authority, and later that day the Senator confirmed that he had declined the offer. Two days later the governor said the senator misunderstood, though more sources told the Times Union in Albany that the senator's version was accurate.

Aubertine succeeded James W. Wright, who resigned after eight terms to become an energy lobbyist. Prior to serving in the State Senate, Aubertine was a member of the New York State Assembly from the 118th district from 2003 to 2008. The owner and operator of his farm in Cape Vincent, Aubertine gave up milking cows when he joined the Assembly, but remains and active crop and livestock farmer. He was named chairman of the Senate's Agriculture Committee on January 7, 2009, replacing Republican Catharine Young, when Democrats retook the chamber. Aubertine was an anomaly in that he was a man chairing a committee traditionally led by women (Young, Patricia McGee, and Nancy Larraine Hoffman before and Patty Ritchie after).

Aubertine's first victory brought the New York State Democrats within one vote of controlling the New York State Senate, and, thus, to controlling all three levels of state power, as they already control the State Assembly and the Governor is a Democrat, for the first time since 1935. In November, Aubertine's re-election along with the addition of two new Democratic Senators cleared the way for Sen. Malcolm Smith to be named Majority Leader on January 8, 2009.

On November 4, 2008, Aubertine defeated Watertown attorney David Renzi by about 6,000 votes (52,908 to 46,941) to win re-election to a full term beginning in January with 53 percent of the vote, despite consistent negative advertising and a large party enrollment disadvantage

Aubertine had been mentioned as a leading candidate to run for the House seat representing New York's 23rd congressional district, formerly held by Secretary of the Army nominee John McHugh, a Republican. In lieu of the campaign, the Senator embarked on a tour of New York State to gather information on key legislative issues, most notably the expiring Power for Jobs program and the Farm Labor Fair Practices Act, which he opposed on the grounds that it would be damaging to the state's agricultural industry and harm the very workers it is intended to benefit.

As a member of the Senate Majority, Aubertine has been one of the most prolific legislators, passing more than 50 bills in 2010, all with broad bipartisan support. That legislation included bills to reduce regulations and open up new opportunities for farmers that includes "Energize New York" a reformed version of the successful Power for Jobs legislation, for which he sponsored an extension this year, protecting a quarter of a million jobs, including 25,000 in Central New York and the North Country. The Senator worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to defeat legislation opposed by gun owners and the farm labor bill. On December 2, 2009, Aubertine was one of eight Democratic state senators to vote against same-sex marriage legislation, which failed to pass the Senate.

Aubertine was defeated for re-election by Republican St. Lawrence County Clerk Patricia A. "Patty" Ritchie in November 2010.