Joseph Spector

jspector@gannett.com | @gannettalbany

ALBANY — New York Republicans were front and center at the GOP national convention this past week in Cleveland for Donald Trump, booing Ted Cruz and cheering Trump with a chant of “Yes, we can.”

Now it’s New York Democrats’ turn to celebrate their home-state candidate.

Democrats in New York are vowing to play a major role at the party’s convention in Philadelphia starting Monday, with top leaders having speaking roles and delegates planning to press their case for Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

“There is no question that Hillary will have strong support not only in Philadelphia, but through the whole campaign from New Yorkers,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, Westchester County, who represents Clinton’s hometown of Chappaqua and will speak Monday at the convention.

Lowey and other prominent Democrats in New York said Clinton’s tenure as senator from 2001 through 2008 made her a close colleague — someone who would call them when they needed help or even when they were going through personal travails.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, Monroe County, recalled how Clinton sent her a brace when she was having back problems. When Slaughter’s husband died two years ago, Clinton was one of the first people to call her.

“She’s someone who never forgets a friend,” Slaughter said.

So New York leaders will be tasked with spreading their personal relationships with Clinton has she faces blistering criticism from her Republican opponent Donald Trump and some Democratic delegates who are coming to the convention as Bernie Sanders’ delegates.

“A lot of people locally have very personal stories about soon-to-be president Clinton,” said Stephanie Hausner, a Clinton delegate and Clarkstown councilwoman from Rockland County.

Clinton’s NY tenure

Sanders, the Vermont senator, lost to Clinton 58 percent to 42 percent in New York in the April primary.

Sanders won 108 delegates, while Clinton secured 139 delegates, plus superdelegates.

The primary brought Clinton back to parts of the state she hasn’t visited since she served as senator, and it reminded supporters of how influential her Senate runs in 2000 and 2006 had on her career.

She followed a path carved out by Sen. Charles Schumer in 1998 that recognized that to win in New York, a Democrat needed to fare well upstate and in its suburbs — particularly against a strong Republican candidate.

The campaign for Clinton in 1999 brought her to upstate farms, struggling inner cities and suburban areas dealing with high taxes.

So for Clinton, New York was a microcosm of what she has faced on the presidential trial in her runs for president in 2008 and now eight years later, people close to her said.

“I think she learned to listen. She’s a naturally empathetic person, and she understood the anguish of people” in New York, Schumer recalled Thursday.

“Their kids couldn’t find the jobs they had. And I think that stays with her today, and that will serve her well as president, if she gets there, and I think she will.”

Clinton never fulfilled the jobs promises she made during her first run for U.S. Senate, but her supporters said she left a record of successfully promoting the state.

She used her influence in Washington to stave off jobs cuts and planted the foundation for a high-tech upstate economy, they said.

“My time with her as an elected official was very, very impressive,” said Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County.

He said that when Democrats or Rochester needed assistance, “No one helped us like Hillary Clinton did.”

Fractured party

Still, Democrats go into the convention with questions about how unified they will be heading into the November elections against Trump.

And Trump assailed Clinton’s record during his acceptance speech Thursday. He’s vowed to win his home state of New York, even as polls have showed Clinton with a double-digit lead.

“This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness,” he said Thursday. “But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy.”

So Democrats will have to spend the week trying to rebut Trump’s assertions and bring Sanders’ supporters into the fold.

On Sunday, Sanders’ supporters are holding a rally at the state Capitol to ensure Sanders’ progressive message and impact on the party isn’t lost in New York or in Philadelphia.

“It’s converting, at least on the local level, into helping people find out to continue to stay involved,” said Zack Smith, a Sanders organizer and recent graduate from Binghamton Univeristy.

“We have an enormous number of people who were never involved before, and we don’t want them to just disappear and maybe show up in another four years.”

Convention tone

Democrats vowed to have an uplifting convention, saying Republicans offered a negative view of the state of the nation.

“It’s always a good time to get together and see talented people talk about public policy, talk about solutions and sort of a sense of hopefulness,” Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said on “The Capitol Pressroom,” a public radio show.

“Public service is important, and we believe in public service, and we believe that we can solve people’s problems.”

Schumer, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are all set to have speaking slots at the convention, but their specific roles have not been announced.

Cuomo has become increasingly vocal in recent months about Republicans’ stance on immigration, saying New York has had a long history of embracing people who come here from other counties.

It’s a message he is expected to expound upon at the convention.

“The new scapegoat is it is all about the immigrants: ‘They are there problem. If we just didn’t have the immigration, everything will be fine,’” Cuomo said in a speech Wednesday. “Nothing couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Elisa Sumner, the Dutchess County Democratic chairwoman, said the Democratic convention also will be about highlighting the party’s diversity.

“I expect it to be very diverse group of people, as opposed to a sea of white faces,” she said. “I expect us to truly represent the population, all the people of America.”

Schumer said a convention with a positive message about the future of the country should be the Democratic convention’s theme.

“All the negativity in the world isn’t going to make people’s lives better; isn’t going to put a dollar in the working family’s pocket,” Schumer said.

“Make it as positive as possible — and the contrast will speak for itself.”

Follow Joseph Spector on Twitter @gannettalbany

The 2016 Democratic National Convention

When? Monday through Thursday.

Where? Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Why? To nominate Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential candidate.

Local coverage

Jon Campbell and Joseph Spector, of the USA Today Network’s Albany Bureau, will join Brian Tumulty, of the Washington Bureau, to provide coverage of New York’s delegations at the Democratic convention.

Check back here often for the latest videos and news from in and around the convention floor.

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