Remarks by Majority Conference Leader John L. Sampson

May 26, 2010

New York State Democratic Committee 2010 State Convention

* Text as prepared *

Good Morning Democrats!

Let me start by thanking our outstanding Chairman Jay Jacobs, our devoted County Chairs and all our dedicated State Committee Members for calling this Convention.

It’s heartening to see so many supporters, activists and leaders from across the state gathered together.

The time has come for us to recommit ourselves to our core values and unite behind our 2010 ticket: Senator Chuck Schmuer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. We have a number of outstanding candidates for Attorney General but I hope you will support my friend, colleague and proven reformer, Senator Eric Schneiderman. And of course, the next Governor of the State of New York Andrew Cuomo and the Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy.

We also need to strengthen the partnership between Washington and New York, so Democrats must protect our majority in Congress. New Yorkers still send more money to Washington than we get back.

If we are going to ensure that our state gets it’s fair share, we have to re-elect Tim Bishop, Carolyn MCCarthy, Bill Owens, Scott Murphy, Dan Maffei, John Hall and Mike McMahon.

And most importantly, we need to strengthen our Majority in the New York State Senate!

Our first 17 months in the Majority, was not without setbacks. But for every setback, there is a comeback.

Yes, we have gone through some growing pains, and voters are right to be angry. But the stakes are just too high for us to lose this election. We cannot put our state’s future at risk. We cannot let that happen!

When I was first elected to the State Senate twelve years ago, the Democratic Conference was in the Minority. We weren’t just lost in the wilderness, we were completely irrelevant. Taking control of the Senate was simply a dream that many thought would never come true.

But we chose to believe. We decided to fight back!

Working with State Chairs like Judith, Denny, June, Reggie and now, Jay, we rolled up our sleeves, walked the districts, and persuaded voters to give us a chance.

Thanks to so many of the people in this room, in 4 years, we picked up 8 new seats and in 2009, Democrats took control of the Senate for the first time in 44 years.

When we finally earned the Majority, we then set about the work of changing the way business was done in Albany. For decades, bill, after bill, after bill was bottled up with no hope of ever coming out of committee – let alone ever actually seeing the Senate Floor for a vote.

For 18 years, Republicans blocked the HIV Rent Cap, Democrats passed it!

For 17 years, Republicans blocked the Family Health Care Decisions Act, Democrats passed it!

For 10 years Republicans blocked Public Authority Reform, Democrats passed it!

Democrats passed the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, cleaning up our environment!

Democrats passed Rockefeller Drug Law Reform!

And while in the end we failed to get the necessary votes, Democrats brought Marriage Equality to the floor for the first time in our State’s history. And we will pass that too!

There are many things in our Party platform that we all agree on. And where we disagree, we should exchange ideas and debate as brothers and sisters, about how we resolve our differences under the big tent that defines our Party.

I have asked all our candidates to consider signing the pledge put forth by our next Governor.

But stronger than the promise of any campaign pledge or the provisions of any Party platform, are the values that we all share and the commitments we must keep to those we represent. We are, after all, Democrats – charged by our shared hope and common history.

As the party of Jefferson and Jackson, Roosevelt and Kennedy, Clinton and Obama, we pledge to care for the least, the last, and the lost.

Because of the sacrifice and struggle of New Yorkers like Samuel Gompers, A. Philip Randolph, Kate Mullaney, Albert Shanker and Sandy Feldman, we pledge our continued partnership with our brothers and sisters in organized labor.

Inspired by trailblazers like Eleanor Roosevelt, Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, we pledge to never waver from the principle that womens’ rights are human rights, and human rights are inalienable rights.

Remembering Stonewall, standing with pride, we pledge to deliver on the promise of equality for all New Yorkers.

These are the leaders from our past – pioneers we look to for meaning and inspiration. But every election is about the future.

Thanks in no small part to the leadership of our campaign committee – our chair Senator Jeff Klein and our co-chairs Senators Liz Krueger, Malcolm Smith and Antoine Thompson – we have found the best candidates in every corner of this state.

We will expand our Democratic Majority and give New Yorkers the change they deserve with candidates from Western and Central New York, to the Capitol Region and Hudson Valley, down to New York City and all the way out to the eastern tip of Long Island.

We have recruited men and women – many women – who want to change Albany. Our candidates are real New Yorkers, frustrated just like us with the dysfunction and gridlock. They simply want to build a government as good as our people.

Ladies and gentleman, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the Senate Class of 2010.

These are our candidates – the men and women in whom we are investing our hopes for the future – and we need your help in electing them.

Help us get our candidates on the ballot,

Help us staff the phone banks and stuff the mailers.

Help us knock on doors and rally Democrats around this state,

Join us in this fight, and we pledge to give you a New York we can all believe in. Thank you very much.

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For more information:

Eric Blankenbaker; 646.592.0161