Republican Statistics 8-20-26

Soon in this election cycle someone from the Republican Caucus of the Oswego County Legislature is going to spout statistics about how often the Democrats vote the same as the Republicans in Committee and at the Legislature meetings.

On the face it makes it seem that we agree with everything the Republicans are doing. The truth is that these statistics are misleading in the way they mean them.

It’s true that the Democrats vote the same as the Republicans the majority of the time (85% +/-), but let’s really look at why.

Most of the items that come up in Committees are things that need to be approved, usually based on the budget which was passed by the Republicans and 2 Democrats last year. Should the Democrats vote against moving money already allocated to something to spite the Republicans? No, they need to keep the lights on in the county (Literally and figuratively speaking)!

The better question should be do the Republicans EVER vote with the Democrats on something brought forth by a Democrat. That would be not often. The only Resolution brought forward by a Democrat that has made it out of Committee is the one by Legislator Gena Bartlett coming up at the September Legislature meeting. It is a Proposed County of Oswego Local Law No. 7 of the Year 2026, Entitled A Local Law Regarding the Sale of Kratom Within the County of Oswego.

One of the instances where the Democrats introduced a Resolution was to change the hours of the Legislature Monthly Meetings to evenings and have the Public Comments included in the meeting. The Republicans voted it down in Committee, so it never got to the Legislature monthly meeting.

Don’t let any statistics the Republicans bring forth fool you, they are voting for themselves, not for you.

Jim Cannon
Fulton, NY