State Senate GOP target Dems via Facebook ads

This item previously appeared in The Point. To sign up for our daily Opinion newsletter, click here.

With budget season in full swing, the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee has been running Facebook ads downstate with Long Island as the focus. But where you live determines what you see.

On Long Island, Senate Democrats are criticized for being free spenders.

“1 Day. 12 New taxes. 2 Billion Dollars. Just another day at the office for John Brooks and his NYC bosses.”

Ads using this boilerplate also name Sens. Monica Martinez, Kevin Thomas, and James Gaughran. There is also a graphic outlining some taxes being debated.

The “day” in question was March 13, when State Senate Dems released their budget proposal, and as usual the GOP blames the Long Islanders for buckling under to the demands of a rapacious NYC faction, a move with which Democrats have quibbled.

In Westchester and the Hudson Valley, however, the GOP Facebook ads are taking a different tack against Senate Democrats.

For example: “Jen Metzger just voted to bailout (sic) Long Island with $200 Million.*”

The asterisk directs the viewer to that same March 13 budget proposal, referring to a plan that would send $200 million in state funds to Nassau County to blunt the impact of higher property tax bills because of reassessment.

So to follow along with GOP messaging, Long Island Democrats are doing the bidding of NYC, while their Westchester and Hudson Valley counterparts are carrying water for Long Island.

As for those Democrats upstate, a GOP Senate Facebook ad targeting Syracuse’s Rachel May says she “voted to bailout Downstate NY with $200 Million.”