State Democrats Gear Up for 2010 Campaign

With a costly battle looming to retain their slim margin in the New York State Senate next year, Democrats have replaced the director of their campaign committee with a longtime aide and fund-raiser for former Vice President Al Gore.

The committee’s new executive director is Josh Cherwin, 32, who began working for Mr. Gore’s 2000 presidential race while a junior at Georgetown and, more recently, helped with Mr. Gore’s high-profile work on climate change; Current TV, a cable channel; and the documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth.”

He replaces Rob Calentine, a veteran fund-raiser for Senate President Malcolm A. Smith of Queens, who was deposed as majority leader in the Senate’s power struggle over the summer. Mr. Calentine will stay on as an adviser until February.

The move represents a consolidation of power by Senator John L. Sampson of Brooklyn, who took over leadership of the Democratic conference but initially let Mr. Smith retain control of its political and finance operation. Mr. Cherwin was recruited by Mr. Sampson’s communications director, Paul Rivera, a former White House aide and veteran of four presidential races, including Mr. Gore’s.

Democrats say that Senator Jeffrey D. Klein of the Bronx, one of the party’s best fund-raisers, will select the committee’s finance director. It will need to raise upward of $10 million for a campaign that is crucial for both parties: if Democrats retain a majority in the Senate – and hold on to the governor’s office – they will control the redrawing of legislative and congressional boundaries after the 2010 census.

Both parties are likely to invest heavily in next year’s elections, and Mr. Cherwin is expected to draw on a broader, more national network of donors who do not typically pay attention to state legislative contests.

“There is a lot at stake, for both the Senate and for Democrats as a whole, in this election cycle,” Mr. Cherwin said.

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