Hofstra professors debate “Red Wave”
Professor Dalton focuses on his analysis of the Suffolk County elections with an emphasis on Huntington Township. // Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman.
On Wednesday, Feb. 9, Hofstra University’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) hosted a conference during which professors and students discussed the outcome of Long Island’s local 2021 elections, calling it the “red wave.” Professor of writing studies and rhetoric and director of CCE Philip Dalton, professor of writing studies and rhetoric and director of labor studies Mary Anne Trasciatti, and professor of political science Rosanna Perotti delved into local voting patterns between Long Island Democrats and Republicans.
While this academic conference was mandatory for some political science classes, students like Bryan Perez, a junior political science major, wanted to take this opportunity to understand politics better.
“Since I’m very motivated with politics, I’m very interested in the political process itself, especially in the divided times we’re living in right now. [I’m here to] get a better understanding of policies and what’s going on,“ Perez said.
Other students wanted to hear how all three professors interpreted the results of the election. Ryan Fallert, a senior rhetoric and linguistics major, stated that his interest in the conference went beyond academia.
“I’m hoping to [get] some understanding about if this was a red wave and what [we can] expect from the future if it wasn’t,” Fallert said. “I’m looking forward to a career in politics or being an active ... civilian. It’s important to have that sort of understanding.”
The conference opened with breakdowns of voter political alignment and demographics to provide a deeper explanation of the red wave. Dalton proposed that the Long Island election results were a “Blue Slumber,” meaning that not as many Democrats showed up to the polls as did in 2017. Registered Democrats have an edge over Republicans in terms of amounts of registered voters. Since 2018, Democrats have seen an 8.75% growth and the GOP has seen a 0.50% growth rate in Huntington, according to Dalton.
Dalton partially credited the use of fusion voting, which allows candidates to run on multiple ballot lines at once, to the red wave, but also addressed the fact that Democratic turnout for Huntington decreased from 41% in 2017 to 35% in 2021. Dalton stated that both Nassau and Suffolk counties tend to shift, and that Republicans and Democrats don’t restrict themselves to only voting within their parties.
“It’s hard to conclude that an overwhelming surge of Republican voters affected the outcome of the 2021 election in Huntington,” Dalton said.
Perotti agreed with Dalton’s conclusion in regards to the lack of Democratic turnout for the 2021 elections. She explained that lower voter turnout means a smaller number of people have the power to change the outcome of an election.
Perotti emphasized that in Brentwood, the 9th district in Suffolk County, the percentage of registered voter turnout was 4.9%, with only 4,855 ballots cast.
“In that kind of a situation, just a few votes really count,” Perotti said.
Trasciatti believed that the phrase “red wave” is hyperbole. Her analysis was that the media is looking to generate headlines in an off-year election to appeal to their audiences.
“The two-party system is a mess in the U.S.,” Trasciatti said. “It is also clear that something is going on politically, some kind of realignment. People are frustrated. And in my opinion, both parties are to blame.”
Students like Yousef Harhash, a junior political science major, share the same sentiment.
“I still need to conform to a party,” Harhash said. “[The professors] were talking about fixing the party from the inside out, which I think is possible, but what can I do about it today?”
