Something’s new in the suburbs, far away from the smoky clubrooms of New York City Supreme Court races.

For years, it seemed that Republicans had firm control of judicial races in the Ninth Judicial District, which includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties. Traditionally, this area was a bastion of conservatism, ringing Democratic-controlled New York City. In the last ten years, Republicans have pounded Democratic judicial candidates here — winning 24 Supreme Court seats while the Democrats only won eight.

Nevertheless, in 2004, a slate of Democrats swept five seats, a judicial coup that rocked the complacent Republican establishment in the district. It was the first time a Democratic candidate had won at the Supreme Court level since 1996.

Last year, Democrats grabbed the only two open seats in the district. Compared to the ceremonial Supreme Court elections in New York City’s four judicial districts — where Democratic monopolies guarantee the election of party favorites and incumbents — these madcap elections give consultants plenty of work.
 

“These races are competitive in Westchester. Voters have choices,” said Alan D. Scheinkman, a Democratic attorney running for a Ninth District Supreme Court seat in the last election New York state will ever see under the current system of judicial selection.

Scheinkman joins Acting Supreme Court Justice Sam D. Walker on the Democratic slate this year. They are running against two Republicans: Joseph Cerreto, an Appellate Division law secretary, and Rory J. Bellantoni, an Acting Supreme Court Justice.
 

The current race was set in motion after two Supreme Court justices retired, creating another dramatic election battle. And Scheinkman seems poised to grab control, continuing a Democratic winning streak that might change the judicial balance of the overwhelmingly conservative judicial district.

“The dynamics have changed,” explained Arnold Linhardt, a consultant from Strategic Services, the White Plains consultancy firm, who has worked on the campaigns for Democrats Walker and Scheinkman. “More Democrats from [the city] have moved north. Also, the Democrats have had more of an opportunity to present their credentials, so voters can pick and choose their candidates, even in judicial races.”

 
(For a statistical look at this dynamic, read this week's LexMetric.)

 
In this county, judicial candidates follow the same procedures as New York City, but the results are starkly different.

In the Ninth District, judicial candidates visit a variety of political groups, vying to score endorsements from a crowded slate of minor parties: the Independence, Conservative, and Working Families, and Right-To-Life parties.

Scheinkman explained that the smaller parties are valuable commodities in an election year, which is why he has secured endorsements from the Independence and Conservative parties as well. “There are no clubs per se in Westchester,” he said, contrasting his district with New York City, where scores of such groups dominate the political process.

In 2005, those minor parties brought more than 40,000 additional votes into the race — a significant asset in a nail-biter Supreme Court election that came down to 1,700 votes.

In contrast, in New York City races, only one convention ever matters. Once a candidate receives the stamp of Democratic Party approval, the election race is effectively ended.

For Ninth Judicial District candidates such as Scheinkman, the real work began after the judicial conventions. So far, his committee has raised $178,270 for his election campaign, and he's spent $143,358 to date — leaving little money for the final push to cross the election finish line.

“I’ve been meeting voters, handing out literature, putting some ads on television and in the journals. I meet voters as often as I can. For the rest of the campaign, I’ll do more of the same,” he said, explaining his expenses.

On the Republican side, the process has grown more complicated. Paul J. Noto is a 20-year political veteran in the district, having served as Mayor of Mamaroneck, and he now works as an elections consultant.

He laid out the new demographics in the Ninth Judicial District: “Putnam, Orange, and Dutchess County are Republican-controlled. The Democrats get a big vote from Westchester and Rockland counties,” he explained.

Sprawl affects tactics. “TV is the most effective form of advertisement,” explained Noto, who is doing campaign work for Acting Justice Rory Bellantoni this year. “You can’t knock on enough doors in this size of a district to be effective.”

The new Democratic trend has Noto worried about the upcoming election, and he also felt that the recent surge of strong Democratic candidates on a statewide level has mobilized voters who don’t usually vote in judicial elections: “This year you have [gubernatorial candidate Eliot] Spitzer running with a 40- to 50-percent plurality. That’s a big boost for Democrats.”

Despite the crazy demographics in the Ninth Judicial District, these speculations about voters and judges could well be moot this time next year.

In January, U.S. District judge John Gleeson overturned the judicial convention system for selecting Supreme Court justices in his ruling, Lopez Torres vs. New York State Board of Elections. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the ruling, and the state legislature was charged to build a new system.

Next year, ballot watchers could see a variety of new selection mechanisms, from open primaries that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the current average to merit-based appointments with virtually no expense.

Consultants on both sides of the political fence agreed that the decision would have an overall positive effect on the district. Noto felt the change would benefit his community. “The Gleeson ruling is a good thing, it will diminish some of the party leaders' control,” he said.

 
Linhardt noted that “the decision certainly makes things more democratic with a small ‘d,’ ” but also worried about the unresolved legislative issues, such as judicial districting, selection method, and the election price tag.

“Across the board, it will make races very expensive if candidates have to run in primaries,” he concluded.