The voices of the American people were heard on Tuesday, November 2, and while Republicans did not obliterate every last Democrat off the political landscape, they made significant gains all the way around.  Come January when the 112th United States Congress convenes, the Republicans will be back in control of the House of Representatives, and they picked up 6 seats in the Senate although the Democrats still hold a majority – but when the new Senators are sworn in, that majority will be a lot less pronounced than it had been.  Although the party in power typically loses seats in the midterm elections, the 60-plus House seats that the GOP picked up represents the largest party turnover in over 70 years.  It was all the more notable in that the Republicans were able to gain seats in the Senate without giving up any of their existing seats, and only gave up 3 seats in the House.

In the gubernatorial races, no less than eleven states voted out their Democratic governor in favor of a Republican replacement.  Four states, California, Connecticut, Vermont, and Hawaii, elected a Democrat to replace an incumbent Republican.  Rhode Island's governor's seat shifted from a Republican to an Independent.  Check the tables below for all the details.

Below are two charts that show the political races in New York State.  Every two years, every seat in the New York Legislature – the 62 seats of the State Senate and the 150 seats of the State Assembly – are up for grabs, which gives New Yorkers an opportunity to reward the incumbent candidates whom they feel have done a good job as well as vote in new blood where they feel it is necessary.

Note that in both tables, the symbol, ♦, denotes the incumbent candidate.

With election season underway and Primary Day next week on Tuesday September 14, USTownhall.com begins its coverage of this year's political scene in earnest.  On Tuesday, September 7, we spoke to Kevin Peter Carroll, who is running for one of the Democratic seats in the position of Democratic District Leader for the Brooklyn, New York section of the 60th Assembly District.  He challenges longtime incumbent, Ralph Perfetto for the position that Perfetto has held for the last 18 years.  We spoke to Mr. Perfetto on Friday, September 10.  Mr. Carroll has been a resident of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn since the age of 10 and has a lengthy background in public service and membership in community organizations.  Mr. Perfetto has decades of experience in public service.  Do you think Mr. Carroll has what it takes to unseat Mr. Perfetto?  Listen to our exclusive interviews with both Mr. Carroll and Mr. Perfetto and judge for yourself. 

Then, head to the polls on Primary Day, Tuesday, September 14, and cast your vote for all the offices being contested.  Whether Democrat or Republican, please be sure to vote on Primary Day as this is your chance to select from among the largest number of choices and your only chance to bring in new blood to the positions where you feel it is needed or ensure that the incumbent remains in office.

Click on the triangular "play" buttons below to listen to each interview.

Kevin Peter Carroll

Ralph Perfetto

Americans are all familiar with the story of Rosa Parks, who, on Thursday, December 1, 1955, refused to yield her seat on a bus to a white passenger.  Similar acts of civil disobedience had taken place prior to that including Irene Morgan in 1944, Sarah Louise Keys in 1953, and young Claudette Colvin earlier in 1955 on the very same bus system as Rosa Parks.

But, did you know that a full century before Rosa Parks' courageous stand, another African-American woman took a similar stand when she was ejected from a privately owned streetcar in downtown Manhattan on the corner of Pearl and Chatham streets?  Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jennings brought a civil suit against the streetcar company and was represented by a future president.  Her attorney successfully argued the case that was the beginning of the desegregation of public transportation in New York City. 

Above: Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Jennings

Lizzie Jennings was born in 1830.  Her father was a businessman, and Lizzie grew up to become a schoolteacher.  In the mid-1800's, the most widely used method of public transportation in the city was the horse-drawn streetcar.  They were owned and operated by private companies, and the owners or drivers could refuse to serve any passengers they wished to.  That being the case, many refused to allow black passengers to get on board.

Jennings' minister, the Reverend J.W.C. Pennington, had been speaking from the pulpit against these practices.  Lizzie took it upon herself to see what would happen if she dared to board a streetcar that was not designated as "Colored Persons Allowed."

On a midsummer's day in 1854, July 16, Miss Jennings waited at the aforementioned corner to board a horse-drawn bus to take her to Sunday worship services where she was the organist for her church.  In Pre-Civil War New York City, although slavery had been abolished there by 1799, elements of segregation still existed, and black residents could generally only ride buses bearing big "Colored Persons Allowed" signs.   Black people could only ride a bus without such a sign at the discretion of the driver.  Drivers on those unmarked buses often carried whips to keep off anyone they deemed undesirable.

The New York Tribune reported the Jennings incident in a February 1855 article: "She got upon one of the [Third Avenue Railway] Company's cars last summer, on the Sabbath, to ride to church.  The conductor undertook to get her off, first alleging the car was full; when that was shown to be false, he pretended the other passengers were displeased at her presence; but when she insisted on her rights, he took hold of her by force to expel her.  She resisted.  The conductor got her down on the platform, jammed her bonnet, soiled her dress and injured her person.  Quite a crowd gathered, but she effectually resisted.  Finally, after the car had gone on further, with the aid of a policeman they succeeded in removing her."

The next day, Jennings told her story to the members of her church, who immediately held a large demonstration denouncing the actions of the bus driver.  It should be noted that Jennings came from a relatively well-off family where her father was an important community leader and, as a tailor who owned his own shop, held a patent on a method for renovating garments.

Jennings secured the services of the law firm of Culver, Parker & Arthur to argue her case in court.  Chester A. Arthur, the then-25-year-old junior partner who argued the case for Miss Jennings, would go on to become the 21st President of the United States in 1881, finishing out the term of the assassinated James Garfield.

In 1855, the year following the incident, in a decision rendered by Judge William Rockwell of the Brooklyn Circuit Court, Lizzie Jennings won her case against the Third Avenue Railway Company.  The judge stated that, "Colored persons if sober, well behaved and free from disease, had the same rights as others and could neither be excluded by any rules of the Company, nor by force or violence."  Miss Jennings was awarded $22.50 in court costs, and an additional $225 in damages (out of the $500 that she claimed).  The following day, the railway company ordered all their drivers to allow black passengers on their buses.  Within five years of Jennings' celebrated lawsuit, all streetcars in the city were desegregated.

In July 1863, Lizzie Jennings, by then Lizzie Graham, suffered a tragic loss when, during the rioting and chaos caused by an angry white mob following a resolution that allowed wealthy New Yorkers to buy their way out of the Civil War draft, her young son was among 70 black people lynched.

Lizzie Jennings Graham lived to be over 70 years old and died in 1901.  Almost exactly 100 years after the Jennings incident, Rosa Parks stood up for her rights in Montgomery, Alabama in much the same way.  We salute Lizzie Jennings and Rosa Parks as we celebrate Black History Month.