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Mike siglerStereotypically the Democrats own Tompkins County.  But the reality is that it is geographically split with much of Lansing and Dryden, all of Groton, part of Caroline, and most of Newfield favoring Republicans.  Even so, the Democrats have 43.8% of registered voters in the county as compared with 28.7% Republicans. 

In Lansing Republicans have been historically successful at getting candidates into office without much campaigning effort on their part.  Democrats in the town have been more successful at public relations, but currently have only two elected officials, Councilwoman Connie Wilcox and Justice William Burin, in the town government.  While a map of Tompkins County looks a bit like a target with a blue bullseye surrounded by a ring of red, the political demographics are changing in favor of the Democrats.  "When you're talking about the bullseye the blue sections are getting much bluer," says Mike Sigler, the new chairman of the Tompkins County Republican  Party.  "You're losing the middle.  Up here I don't think we're getting redder.  I think we're more Giuliani Republicans."

Sigler, represents the Town of Lansing in the Tompkins County Legislature and lives in the in the town with his wife and two children.  With a background in television news, and now selling billboard advertising for Park Communications, Sigler brings his advertising/public relations skills to the party at a time when they may be needed more than ever.  Lansing Democrats have been proactive about making the press, including this publication, aware of party events.  But the Republicans have been almost invisible in that way, even to the point where prominent Republican candidates have eschewed yard signs and active campaigning.

Lansing Republicans have been able to rely on personal ties in a town where everybody knows everyone else.  But with urban sprawl radiating from the notoriously liberal city, growth in upscale neighborhoods that tend to be politically Ithacan presents new challenges for Republicans.  The Tompkins County Board of Elections reports that there are 2374 Democrats and 2224 Republicans registered in the Town of Lansing (including the Village of Lansing).  The Village, arguably an Ithaca suburb, illustrates the 'target' syndrome.  Village Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one, with 746 Democrats and only 323 Republicans.

That should be setting off alarms among Lansing Republicans.  Even though village residents vote in Town elections (and pay Town taxes), few turn out to the polls.  That could be for any number of reasons: that Village residents think of themselves more as Ithacans than Lansingites, that Village elections take place in April while Town votes are in November, that Village residents don't think Town politics affects their lives much.

With the changing demographic it may be more vital that Republicans campaign more to defend their home team advantage.  In the last Town Board election Republican incumbent Bud Shattuck didn't campaign much, saying that voters would reelect him if they liked his record as a Town Councilman.  That nearly cost him his office to Democrat Greg Lawrence, who largely ran as a 'placeholder' to gain more time for the Democrats to find a candidate to run. 

At the eleventh hour, with no one stepping up, Lawrence decided to run in earnest, but he only had a few weeks to prepare.  And he was further hampered because he was recovering from surgery at the time.  Shattuck had a solid record of proactive ideas and service to the town, and involvement in the minutia of a large number of town initiatives.  Despite those differences he defeated Lawrence by only 136 votes.


This year it looked like incumbent Supervisor Steve Farkas would go the same route.  While opponent Scott Pinney's yard signs sprouted up like dandelions, some people, even Farkas supporters, had to ask whether Farkas was even running.  "Candidates make decisions on that," Sigler said when the Star interviewed him two weeks ago.  "Steve has been the Supervisor for years.  People know him.  It's an off-year election, so it really comes down to turnout.  The people who vote, I think, know Steve and they either like him or they don't like him."

But evidently he had a change of heart, because this week red Farkas yard signs sprouted up overnight, and mailers, which began appearing in Lansing mailboxes and 'Shopper' publications a few days ago, as well as the the large group signs the party has used in past elections are also part of the strategy.  Most of the candidates have been showing up at local events including pancake breakfasts and the dedication of the new Robert Baker garden at Woodsedge.  Sigler says that people know what Farkas stands for, but the Democrats' vision is unclear.  ""I don't really know what the Democrats' stands are," he says.  "For all Scott (Pinney's) signs that you see, I don't know what his stances are."

Sigler says that part of the formula for success is meeting with your opponents and learning where you can agree.  "I met with the Democrats," he says.  "You have to do that as an elected official.  I see people hold these forums.  'Come and see me, I'm at the Town Hall.'  That's great, but in my case and Steve's too, I call the Democrats and say 'I'd like to meet you.'  And they came and met with me, which is great for them, great for me.  I now know their top five issues.  I already investigated and took care of one of them."

Sigler is optimistic about GOP candidates, and the party's future in Tompkins County, noting that outside of the Town and City of Ithaca the party has a full slate of candidates and issues he thinks will appeal to voters.  "Part of the problem in Ithaca has been that you put somebody in, and they're always fighting uphill and they don't get a lot of support.  The face of the party in the city is going to be much different from the face county-wide, which is fun.  I think you're allowed to have liberal wings.  You have lots of wings in the Republican Party.  My job is to make all those wings get along.  That's the task in front of me."

"We own some of the issues, like this drivers license issue," Sigler continues.  "Barbara Lifton says she supports that.  So when she runs for election again I'm hoping we have a candidate to run against her.  And that will be an issue.  Because I don't understand how we would do that.  You're cheapening citizenship.  The whole Town of Ithaca Board voted unanimously to support Spitzer in this.  I wish they had done that earlier, because I probably could have gotten candidates there.  It's those kinds of issues that we have to drive home."

This map shows areas in Tompkins County dominated by Democrats in blue, or by Republicans in Red, based on what parties voters are registred as.  It is based on "Town Election Districts"  Map Courtesy of Tompkins County Information Technology Services: GIS Division, 128 East Buffalo Street, Ithaca, New York 14850, with red and blue areas added by the Star staff.

Sigler says that with growth in Lansing inevitable that the Republicans have a better handle on controlling it in a way that is acceptable to residents.  "The Republicans say, 'The town's going to grow.  Let's have a plan to control that growth.  Let's try to keep the growth to South Lansing and keep North Lansing agricultural as it always has been,'" he says.  "Then there's the group that we're running against that says, 'We don't want any growth.  Lansing is the way it is.  That's how it's going to be.'    The problem with that is that it's going to grow anyway.  You either have a plan for that growth or you're going to have a mish-mash in the town that's not going to work."

He characterizes the failed sewer project as an attempt to grow the town according to a plan, but not at the expense of current residents.  "You can't get developers to come in without sewer, but it's just not going to fly," he says.  "It's too expensive.  And the Republicans on the Town Board are very responsive to that.  They say, 'We understand that it's too expensive.  We're going to put it to the side for now.  We're not going to drop it completely -- if we can get the price down, great, but if we can't we're not going to charge that much for Town services.'"

Sigler says that what is good for towns in Tompkins County transcends party politics, and when the dust settles it is really about which candidate can do the most for the town.  "For these town races it's local," he says.  "We can talk about the war, we can talk about all the national issues, but at the town level it doesn't really matter because nothing Steve Farkas is going to do is going to change Iraq.  What Steve Farkas is going to do could change the town, hopefully, in the way Lansingites would want.  That's our goal, to get the word out that Steve has the experience and knowledge and the ability to bring enough people in to get a consensus."

At this point it comes down to this: Lansing Democrats are better at getting the word out, but less good at finding and running viable candidates.  This year they have two candidates, effectively handing the Republicans four out of six local positions that are up for election this year to the Republican incumbents.  Republicans are arguably terrible at getting the word out, but, for now at least, more successful at finding qualified candidates and getting them elected.  "Maybe that's the way it's supposed to work," Sigler says.  "Maybe we just have better ideas."

But he also concedes that in a changing Lansing more proactive and creative campaigning will be a necessity, and part of his job as chairman will be to convince candidates to be more visible in their campaigning, to get the word out to the public and the press, and to promote the party's ideas.  "That has to change," Sigler says.  "It has already changed to some extent because when we have an event you're going to know about it."

And there are a lot more yard signs around town than there were last week, literally a sign that the local GOP is thinking about how to meet the challenge of a changing Lansing.

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