If there was a unifying theme for Republicans on Monday when they formally installed Nick Langworthy as their state chairman, it was this: Democrats in New York are overreaching, and the pendulum will swing back.
As he takes the helm of the New York Republican Committee, Langworthy says he wants to modernize the party — enroll more voters and win elections at the state and local level.
“To those who proclaim our party is about to draw its final breath, you are dead wrong,” he said at the party’s organizing meeting at a hotel outside of Albany. “I said that a new dawn has come to New York and our day is here. A new generation of leadership is reporting for duty. ”
Langworthy wants to boost enrollment totals for the GOP and entice Democratic and independent voters to vote Republican, arguing the party’s stance on taxes and spending will win voters over.
Langworthy, the Erie County Republican chairman for the last eight years, has been seen by some in the state committee as a chance to breath fresh energy into the party. He’s the youngest chairman in the party’s history and has sought to compete in a Democratic-heavy area of the state.
But Republicans in New York face an uphill climb: They are out of power statewide and lag behind Democrats in enrollment 2-to-1. Rep. Tom Reed says the leftward tilt of the Democratic Party has given Republicans an opening.
“You have a group of extremists that are putting forth philosophies and ideas that are not going to make America that bright shining beacon on a hill that I know it can be and will be under new leadership,” Reed said.
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