Farrell: Lofty Goals Accomplished

Here is part of Denny Farrell's good-bye statement. "As a result of our unparalleled victories and unity, and the fact that the party is the strongest its ever been, I believe we have accomplished the lofty goals set for us when I took this job. "With that in mind, I am proud and humbled to announce that I have decided to step down as state chairman, effective January 1. I do intend to remain as Manhattan county leader and chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. "I know that whoever is chosen to be my successor will inherit a strong and united party, and will do a wonderful job." If you have any details to add to the Farrell legacy that may not have made it into this official version, feel free. Full statement after the jump. -- Azi Paybarah STATEMENT FROM NYS DEMOCRATIC CHAIR HERMAN "DENNY" FARRELL “As you can imagine, watching the returns come in last night was an incredible feeling, the culmination of years of hard work and a well deserved triumph for the New York Democratic Party. When I took this job in 2002, the task was simple and twofold: unite the party and win across the state. I am proud to say we have done just that. We have one state party that unifies both upstate and downstate. And we have Democratic officeholders in every pocket of this state. With possession of every statewide office in the state, as well as a pickup of three congressional seats and a possible state senate seat, it is fair to say in all humility that the party has never been in better shape in modern history. As a result of our unparalleled victories and unity, and the fact that the party is the strongest its ever been, I believe we have accomplished the lofty goals set for us when I took this job. With that in mind, I am proud and humbled to announce that I have decided to step down as state chairman, effective January 1. I do intend to remain as Manhattan county leader and chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee I know that whoever is chosen to be my successor will inherit a strong and united party, and will do a wonderful job. In the meantime I wish my heartiest congratulations to our newly elected officials and my sincerest gratitude to my top-notch staff.” HIGHLIGHTS FROM FARRELL’S TENURE Since Farrell took office in December, 2001, he has united the party and helped lead it to monumental victories. Just as importantly, under Farrell the party implemented a new approach by: * Developing a new voter education and mobilization field program called the Neighborhood Network program that set up offices in cities throughout upstate New York, where they pulled the vote on Election Day and connected voters to the Democratic Party (in many cases for the first time). * Bolstering the communications department with a rapid response team. * Establishing a new statewide voter file to effectively target and mobilize voters. * Traveling around the state, and visiting all 62 counties in the state. * Adopting a judicial reform plan that helps ensure more qualified judges are selected via screening panels. Some of the party’s many victories under Farrell include: * A sweep of all statewide offices in 2006; * Increasing Democratic enrollment in New York from 5,154,859 to 5,507,928, a much faster rate than the Republicans; * Picking up five previously GOP House seats (Bishop in 2002; Higgins in 2004; Arcuri, Gillibrand, Hall in 2006); * Picking up nine Assembly seats; * Picking up 2 state senate seats and possibly a third this year; * Sweeping every major upstate mayoralty (including longtime Republican-held cities like Binghamton and Saratoga Springs); * Winning Broome County and Suffolk County executive seats previously held by Republicans; * Taking key county legislatures, previously held by Republicans (like Ulster, Nassau, St. Lawrence, Erie, Schenectady, Suffolk, Cortland) * The defeat of the New York City nonpartisan elections ballot proposal in 2003.