2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, The tie, No tiebreaker
Monserrate's decision to return to the Democrats meant that the Senate was evenly divided 31–31, without a clear way to break the tie. In the case of a tie in the Senate, a casting vote, also called a tie-breaking vote, is issued by the Lieutenant Governor. The lieutenant governorship, however, had been vacant since David Paterson ascended to the governor's office upon the resignation of former Governor Eliot Spitzer. According to the State Constitution, if the Lieutenant Governor's office is vacant, the Temporary President of the Senate is to perform all of his duties, which includes making the casting vote. However, since Senators Smith and Espada both claimed to be Senate president, the tie could not be clearly broken.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, The tie, No tiebreaker
Special elections for lieutenant governor were forbidden by an amendment to the State Constitution after the death of Thomas W. Wallace and subsequent election of Joe R. Hanley in 1943, and according to traditional interpretation of the statute, there is no provision in state law that allows the governor and legislature to appoint a replacement, as there is with other statewide positions.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, The tie, No tiebreaker
On June 17, Espada asserted that because he was Senate president, he would effectively get to vote twice: once as a Senator, and again as Temporary President, who "[performs] all the duties of lieutenant governor", which includes breaking ties in the Senate.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, The tie, Legislative deadlock
On June 30, the Democrats took advantage of Republican State Senator Frank Padavan's brief walk through the Senate chamber to claim a quorum, but Governor Paterson said he did not believe Padavan's merely walking into the chamber created a quorum and so he would not sign any of the bills passed during that alleged quorum. They passed "non-controversial" bills, including a motel tax, 911 service fees, and a bond authorization for Nassau.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, The tie, Legislative deadlock
On July 7, Monserrate, accompanied by fellow Democratic Senator Ruben Diaz, walked out on the Democrats; the two stated that they were not abandoning the Democratic Conference, but that the power struggle must end.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Governor Paterson's actions, Staying in-state
Shortly following the attempted change in Senate leadership, Governor David Paterson announced that he would avoid out-of-state travel, saying "the best thing for me to do is to stay here."


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Governor Paterson's actions, Staying in-state
The New York Constitution states that whenever the governor is out of state, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor. Since there was no clear line of succession, it was unclear who would have become acting governor, which is a situation the Governor attempted to avoid. Paterson did not leave the state from June 8 until the resolution of the crisis, which required him to skip several out-of-state events.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Governor Paterson's actions, Calling special Senate sessions
On June 21, Governor Paterson announced that he would convene a special session on June 23 – setting "routine" but "time-sensitive" bills such as mayoral control over New York City schools, sales tax, and same-sex marriage bills on the agenda. He also stated that he would convene a special session every day, including weekends and July 4, until the senators finished their job.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Governor Paterson's actions, Calling special Senate sessions
On June 23, all senators met in the Senate chamber but each caucus held a separate session, ignoring the other. Governor Paterson then called daily extraordinary sessions of the State Senate, but each caucus met separately and adjourned without doing any business for lack of quorum. On request of Governor Paterson, Justice Joseph C. Teresi ordered the State Senators on June 29 to convene together the next day. The Republicans appealed.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Governor Paterson's actions, Withholding Senators' pay and grants
On June 24, Governor Paterson asked that New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli withhold the paychecks and per diems of the Senators retroactively from June 8, when Senate crisis initially started. Senator Kevin Parker rejected the idea, saying that Governor Paterson "doesn't have any constitutional or legal authority to dock our pay." DiNapoli initially said that he would look into the legality of the request. On July 2, DiNapoli agreed to withhold the Senators' pay, even though no court ruled that he had the authority to do so. Although the Senators' pay was being withheld, it could not be kept permanently, as the Constitution restricts changing the legislature's pay during session; it was disbursed after the crisis was resolved.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Governor Paterson's actions, Withholding Senators' pay and grants
Paterson also declared that he would withhold $85 million in pork barrel grants. These grants were given to the senators individually to be spent on pet projects in the Senators' districts. However, the impact was negligible because no such projects had been approved in 2009.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, The Governor's speech
On July 8, at 5:01 pm, Governor Paterson appointed former MTA chairman Richard Ravitch as Lieutenant Governor of New York, although, despite numerous vacancies, no lieutenant governor had ever been appointed in New York history. However, Paterson believed that he had the authority to fill the vacancy due to provisions of the New York State Public Officers Law.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Legality of the appointment
The New York Constitution prohibits electing a lieutenant governor "except at the time of electing a governor," and provides that the "temporary president of the senate shall perform all the duties of lieutenant governor" in the absence of a lieutenant governor, and that the Speaker of the State Assembly is then next-in-line of succession to the governor's office in case of a vacancy of the temporary presidency of the Senate. However, State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris formed an interpretation of the Public Officers Laws that would allow Paterson to fill the vacancy by appointment. This interpretation was supported by an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. It is also supported by good government groups Citizens Union and Common Cause, both of which urged Paterson to make an appointment.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Legality of the appointment
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo held that Paterson's interpretation was unconstitutional, and that the appointment was not valid. Senator Espada announced he would sue to prevent the appointment, and said that this appointment had ruined Paterson's reputation as an impartial mediator of the situation. Senator Skelos also expressed his concern with the appointment, stating that "it's illegal, it's unconstitutional", and believed that it would create more chaos and government gridlock.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Ravitch's swearing-in and legal battle
Ravitch was initially expected to be sworn in July 9, the day after his appointment, at 11:30 am. However, Paterson's administration officials rushed to swear in Ravitch quickly, ahead of the expected legal battles. He was sworn in at approximately 8 pm, just 3 hours after his appointment, and the necessary paperwork was shortly filed with the Secretary of State's office.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Ravitch's swearing-in and legal battle
Republicans attempted to block Ravitch from taking the oath of office by seeking a temporary restraining order. They successfully acquired one shortly after 11 pm, signed by State Supreme Court Justice Ute W. Lally. The Republicans initially thought that this was early enough to prevent Ravitch from entering office, but they later learned that he had already been sworn in. The  prevented Ravitch from taking any actions as Lt. Governor. However, it was vacated the next day, and a hearing to rule on the legality of the appointment was scheduled for the following day, Friday, July 10. At the hearing in the State Supreme Court in Mineola, the judge adjourned matters until July 15.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Ravitch's swearing-in and legal battle
On July 15, lawyers for Governor Paterson and Senators Skelos and Espada presented their arguments. On July 21, New York Supreme Court Justice William R. LaMarca said that the plaintiffs “have established a likelihood of success on the merits for their claim that neither the Constitution nor legislative enactment authorized the governor to make the appointment," and issued a preliminary injunction which barred Ravitch from carrying out the duties of the office. A new hearing was scheduled for August 25, but lawyers for Governor Paterson filed an appeal in the Appellate Division. The preliminary injunction was stayed by Appellate Division Justice L. Priscilla Hall, who had been appointed to the Appellate Division by Paterson in March 2009.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Ravitch's swearing-in and legal battle
On July 30, a four-judge panel of the Second Department of the Appellate Division ruled that Ravitch "can continue serving as lieutenant governor pending a legal challenge over his appointment – but he cannot preside over the State Senate." A hearing was held on August 18 before the Appellate Division's Second Dept. in Brooklyn, at which lawyers for both sides presented oral arguments. David Lewis, attorney for Dean Skelos and the Republican Senate caucus, likened the appointment of Ravitch to the Roman Emperor Caligula's naming of his horse to public office.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Ravitch's swearing-in and legal battle
Justice Thomas A. Dickerson said that "there is to be no one who is appointed to take this office." Justice Steven W. Fisher said he expected the Court to rule as soon as possible, referring the case directly to the New York Court of Appeals. On August 20, the Appellate Division rejected the appointment, saying that "the Governor’s purported appointment of Mr. Ravitch was unlawful because no provision of the Constitution or of any statute provides for the filling of a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor other than by election."


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, Ravitch's swearing-in and legal battle
However, on September 22, 2009 the New York Court of Appeals ruled 4–3 that the appointment of Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch by Governor David Paterson was constitutional.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Democrats retake Senate majority
On July 9, Espada announced that he would return to the Democratic conference, which effectively ended the Senate deadlock as Democrats once again had a 32–30 majority. Espada claimed to have a "handshake agreement" with Democratic leader Senator John L. Sampson which would make Espada Senate president for the rest of 2009. Later on the same day, Espada officially became Senate Majority Leader, while Malcolm Smith remained Temporary President of the Senate.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Democrats retake Senate majority
Sampson was said to be in line to take over for Smith as Temporary President at an undetermined future date; however, Smith retained hold of the Senate presidency until the end of the term, when control of the chamber passed to the Republicans following the November 2010 elections. Later on July 9, the Senate passed 135 bills in a session that lasted until 2:00 the following morning.


2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis, Democrats retake Senate majority
Paterson estimated that the crisis cost the state $125–$150 million in routine taxes that were not collected.


2009 New York Titans season
The New York Titans are a lacrosse team based in New York City playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2009 season was the 3rd in franchise history.


2009 New York Titans season, Regular season, Conference standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2009 New York Titans season, Player stats, Runners (Top 10)
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose Balls; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2009 New York Titans season, Player stats, Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average


2009 New York Titans season, Transactions, Entry draft
The 2008 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 7, 2008. The Titans selected the following players:


2009 New York Yankees season
The 2009 New York Yankees season was the 107th season for the New York Yankees franchise. The Yankees opened their new Yankee Stadium on April 3, 2009, when they hosted an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs. The new stadium hosted its first regular-season game on April 16, when the team played against the Cleveland Indians and their first playoff game against the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS on October 7, 2009. The Yankees swept the Twins in three games to win the divisional series.


2009 New York Yankees season
They won their 40th American League pennant on October 25, defeating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 6 games to advance to the World Series, where they defeated the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies in six games to win their 27th World Series title on November 4. The Yankees finished the regular season with 103 wins and 59 losses.. To date, this is the most recent season the Yankees won the World Series, as well as the last season they won the AL Pennant.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Passing of control
George Steinbrenner stepped down as the main decision maker for the team on November 20, as Major League Baseball's owners approved passing control to his youngest son, 39-year-old Hal Steinbrenner. The patriarch of the Yankees success over three and a half decades since buying the team from CBS in 1973 had been in failing health, and had been reducing his role in the ownership the last several seasons. Despite his limited role, he remained as a team chairman with his two sons until his death on July 13, 2010.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason departures
After the Yankees failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, General Manager Brian Cashman made clear that there would be offseason changes. Mike Mussina retired from baseball on November 20, 2008. Infielder Wilson Betemit was traded to the Chicago White Sox in a trade for Nick Swisher on November 13, 2008. The Yankees declined options on first baseman Jason Giambi and starting pitcher Carl Pavano. Giambi went on to sign a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics on January 1, 2009, and Pavano signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians on January 6, 2009.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason departures
Right fielder Bobby Abreu signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and catcher Iván Rodríguez signed a one-year pact with the Houston Astros. From those departures, the Yankees shed nearly $89 million from their payroll, enabling them to spend money to fix their team. Furthermore, the Yankees non-tendered the contracts of Chris Britton and Justin Christian, allowing them to become free agents; Britton signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres and Christian signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason acquisitions
The Yankees began retooling the team, when they acquired first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, along with relief prospect Kanekoa Texeira, from the Chicago White Sox for infielder Wilson Betemit, relief prospect Jhonny Núñez and starting pitching prospect Jeff Marquez.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason acquisitions
On December 18, 2008, the Yankees announced the signings of starting pitchers CC Sabathia to a 7-year deal worth $161 million and A. J. Burnett to a 5-year deal worth $82.5 million. On January 6, 2009, the Yankees signed first baseman Mark Teixeira to an 8-year deal worth $180 million with a no-trade import. The signings of Sabathia, Teixeira and Burnett filled the Yankees' biggest needs: starting pitching and first base.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason acquisitions
On December 22, the Yankees re-signed Chien-Ming Wang to a 1-year deal worth $5 million, avoiding salary arbitration; they would later reach deals with Brian Bruney, Melky Cabrera and Xavier Nady.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason acquisitions
On January 26, the Yankees re-signed Andy Pettitte to a 1-year deal worth $5.5 million contract with performance-based incentives.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason acquisitions
The Yankees signed starting pitcher Sergio Mitre to a split (minor/major league) contract, and signed former major leaguers such as Justin Leone, Ángel Berroa, Doug Bernier, Jason Johnson, Kevin Cash, John Rodriguez and Todd Linden; they also acquired catcher Chris Stewart from the White Sox for a player-to-be-named later.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Offseason acquisitions
In addition, to prevent them from becoming eligible for the Rule 5 draft, they placed starting pitchers Wilkins De La Rosa, Christian Garcia and Michael Dunn, as well as relief pitcher Anthony Claggett, on the 40 man roster.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Coaching changes
Third base coach and former player Bobby Meacham did not get his contract renewed and special pitching instructor Rich Monteleone was fired as well. Former major leaguer Mick Kelleher was hired as the new first-base coach, with Tony Peña moving to bench coach, and Rob Thomson moving to third-base coach.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Controversies
In early 2009, before spring training, third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids while playing for the Texas Rangers during the 2001–2003 seasons. This happened right before a hip injury to Rodriguez, and that stopped his playing time from early March until mid-May. A-Rod would come back with a bang, having a 3-run homer on the first pitch he had seen since early spring training.


2009 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Controversies
Former manager Joe Torre, who at the time was managing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, published a book called The Yankee Years about his time in New York that criticized Steinbrenner, Cashman, and Rodriguez, among others.


2009 New York Yankees season, Midseason transactions
The Yankees traded prospects Eric Fryer and Casey Erickson for OF/3B Eric Hinske of the Pittsburgh Pirates.


2009 New York Yankees season, Midseason transactions
They traded a player to be named later for Colorado Rockies minor leaguer Jason Hirsh.


2009 New York Yankees season, Midseason transactions
Hours before the trading deadline, the Yankees traded catching prospect Chase Weems to the Cincinnati Reds for 3B Jerry Hairston, Jr.


2009 New York Yankees season, Midseason transactions
On August 7, 2009, the Yankees also traded for P Chad Gaudin for a player to be named later.


2009 New York Yankees season, Midseason transactions
They have signed several minor league free agents throughout the season such as Russ Ortiz, Josh Towers, Brian Peterson and Yurendell de Caster. They also released players such as Jason Johnson and Justin Leone. Todd Linden was sold to a Japanese League team per his request.


2009 New York Yankees season, Preseason
In March, Alex Rodriguez was diagnosed a hip injury and underwent surgery, sidelining him for 6 to 9 weeks. The Yankees announced that journeyman Cody Ransom would start the season as the third baseman; Ramiro Peña was assigned the back-up infielder spot.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, April
Playing at Camden Yards, the Yankees lost the first two games of the season due to poor performances by starters CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang, though they rebounded to take the third game of the series as well as win the next two series they played against the Kansas City Royals and defending AL East Champions Tampa Bay Rays. On April 16, the Yankees played the first game in their new Yankee Stadium, but they lost the game because of a shaky bullpen. They won the next game to split their first series at the ballpark. The Yankees were swept later in the month by the rival Boston Red Sox in three games at Fenway Park.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, May
In his first game back from the disabled list on May 8, Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run home run on the first pitch he saw of the season, giving the Yankees a 3–0 lead in a game they would go on to win 4–0 with the help of a four-hit shutout by Sabathia. On May 15, 16 and 17, the Yankees had three consecutive walk-off wins against the Twins, including a home run by Rodriguez in his first series at the new Yankee Stadium.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, May
Late in the month, Phil Hughes, who had struggled as a starter, was moved to the bullpen. His addition stabilized the bullpen and helped to turn it from a liability to a strength, as he posted a stellar 1.40 ERA as a reliever, serving as a highly effective eighth-inning set-up man for closer Mariano Rivera.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, June
On the first day of June, the Yankees set a Major League record with 18 consecutive errorless games. Late in the month, the Yankees struggled in interleague play, losing two of three to the Nationals and Marlins, falling to five games back in the division. When the Yankees lost the first game of a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves, Yankee GM Brian Cashman flew down to Atlanta to motivate the team in a closed-door meeting. Initially, his words seemed to do little, as in the next game (6/24), the Yankees were being no-hit through six innings.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, June
After Brett Gardner walked and was picked off at first base – a borderline call by umpire Bill Welke – Joe Girardi protested and was ejected from the baseball game by Welke. The next batter, rookie catcher Francisco Cervelli, hit his first big-league home run to tie the game at 1, and the Yankees went on to win the game 8–4. Many sports analysts viewed this game as a major turning point in the Yankees' season.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, July
The Yankees emerged on a hot streak after the All-Star break, winning eight consecutive games. This included sweeps of Detroit and Baltimore.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, August
The Yankees took control of the best record in baseball, highlighted by a four-game sweep of their archrivals the Boston Red Sox from August 6–9. Entering the series, the Yankees had lost all 8 games in which they had faced the Red Sox in 2009. During Game 1 of the series, the Yankees pounded Red Sox starter John Smoltz for nine hits, four walks, and eight earned runs in 3.1 IP. Jorge Posada finished a triple shy of the cycle as the Yankees recorded 18 hits total and went on to win 13–6.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, August
On Friday night, the second game of the series, it took 15 innings for a run to be recorded in the form of a walk-off two-run home run by Alex Rodriguez. Josh Beckett and AJ Burnett had started the pitchers' duel and each pitched at least seven shutout innings. The Yankees also won the third game of the series on Saturday 5–0 behind CC Sabathia's 7.2 shutout innings. In the series finale on Sunday Night Baseball, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to propel the Yankees to a victory. The sweep also gave the Yankees a stranglehold over the American League East and for the rest of the season, no other team would come within five games of first place.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, September
Derek Jeter became the all-time hits leader as a member of the Yankees (2,722), passing Lou Gehrig on September 11, 2009. The hit was a single off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman in the 3rd inning. On September 22, 2009, after defeating the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees became the first team to clinch a playoff spot for the 2009 MLB post-season. By beating the Boston Red Sox on September 27, the Yankees won their 100th game of the season, and clinched the American League East Division title. This win proved especially significant because the Yankees had started out the season 0–8 against their rivals in Boston, and they ended up splitting the season series 9–9.


2009 New York Yankees season, Regular season, October
On October 4, Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run home run, the 243rd home run of the team's season to date, breaking the team's previously set record in 2004 of 242. Later in the same inning he hit a grand slam, breaking the American League record for most RBI in one inning by a single player, setting it at seven. The last two at-bats of Rodriguez's season allowed him to finish with 30 home runs and 100 RBI.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALDS
The Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series, 3 games to 0. The two teams previously met in the 2003 and 2004 Division Series, with the Yankees winning both series in four games.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALDS
The Yankees won Game 1 behind a strong start from CC Sabathia, a pivotal two-run home run by Derek Jeter, two huge RBI singles by Alex Rodriguez and a two-run homer by Hideki Matsui.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALDS
Trailing 3–1 in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 2, Alex Rodriguez hit a game-tying two-run homer off Twins closer Joe Nathan. David Robertson escaped a bases-loaded, no out jam in the Top of the 11th, and Mark Teixeira lined a walk-off home run off José Mijares to lead off the bottom half to give the Yankees a 4–3 win.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALDS
Former Yankee Carl Pavano threw shutout ball through 6 innings in Game 3 in what would turn out to be the final baseball game ever played at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. However, in the top of the 7th, Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each hit a home run to give the Yankees a 2–1 lead. In the bottom of the 8th, the Twins' Nick Punto made a wide turn at 3rd base after a Denard Span infield single with no one out, and was thrown out attempting to retreat back, killing the Twins' threat. The Yankees tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the 9th, and Mariano Rivera shut the door in the 9th to give the Yankees their first postseason series victory since the 2004 ALDS.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALDS
Rodriguez played a pivotal role in the Division Series, hitting two home runs (both of which were game-tying), batting .455 (5-for-11), and collecting 6 RBI. Before 2009, Rodriguez had only 4 postseason home runs in a Yankee uniform, and hadn't batted above .300 in a postseason since 2004.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
The Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels in six games in the ALCS. This marked the franchise's 40th American League pennant, and the first time the Yankees had defeated the Angels in a postseason series. Yankees ace CC Sabathia was named ALCS MVP, with a 2–0 record in two starts against the Angels, and posting an ERA of 1.13.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
Sabathia hurled 8 brilliant innings in a Game 1 4–1 Yankee victory, helped by three uncharacteristic Angels errors.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
In a classic Game 2, the score remained tied at 2 heading to the 11th inning. In the top half, Chone Figgins broke out of his postseason slump by blooping an RBI single to left field to score Gary Matthews, Jr. to give the Angels a 3–2 lead. However, in the bottom half, Alex Rodriguez lined a home run into the short right-field porch off Angels closer Brian Fuentes to tie the game at 3. In the bottom of the 13th, Maicer Izturis threw away a potential double play ball from Melky Cabrera to score Jerry Hairston, Jr. with the winning run, giving the Yankees a 2–0 series lead.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
The Angels returned the favor in Game 3 with a walk-off win of their own. Vladimir Guerrero hit a huge game tying two-run homer off Andy Pettitte with two out in the bottom of the 6th, and Jeff Mathis laced a game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the 11th to win the game for the Angels, 5–4. This came after a controversial decision from manager Joe Girardi to lift David Robertson for Alfredo Aceves with two out and no one on in the 11th. Aceves served up a single to Howie Kendrick, followed by the Mathis double. Four solo home runs accounted for the Yankees' scoring, hit by Derek Jeter, Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
Sabathia threw 8 more brilliant innings in Game 4, this time on three-days' rest. Melky Cabrera sparked the Yankees with four RBIs, including a two-run single in the 4th. Rodriguez added a two-run homer, tying a postseason record with RBIs in eight consecutive games. Damon put the game away with a two-run homer in the 8th, and the Yankees won 10–1, putting them one win away from their 40th American League pennant.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
A. J. Burnett allowed four runs before recording an out in the bottom of the first inning of Game 5, but settled down soon thereafter. The Yankees rallied for 6 runs with two outs in the top of the 7th inning, including a 3-run double by Mark Teixeira, a game-tying single by Hideki Matsui, and a two-run triple by Robinson Canó. However, in the bottom half, the Angels rallied for 3 runs of their own to regain a 7–6 lead. Phil Hughes allowed a game-tying RBI single by Guerrero and a go-ahead RBI single to Kendry Morales. The Yankees threatened in the top of the 9th, but with two out and the bases loaded, Fuentes induced Nick Swisher to pop out to shortstop Erick Aybar on a 3–2 pitch to send the series back to New York.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, ALCS
In Game 6, Damon sparked the Yankees with a 2-run single in the bottom of the 4th to give the Yankees a lead that they would not relinquish. Pettitte hurled 61⁄3 strong innings, allowing only one earned run. Mariano Rivera came on in the 8th for a 6 out save, but allowed an RBI single to Guerrero to make it a 3–2 Yankee lead. It was the first postseason run allowed by Rivera at home since 2000, and the only one he would give up in the 2009 postseason. In the bottom half, errors by Kendrick and Scott Kazmir gave the Yankees two insurance runs, and Rivera shut the door in the 9th to give the Yankees their 40th American League pennant.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
The Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series, 4 games to 2. The Phillies were playing for their second consecutive World Series title and 3rd overall, and the Yankees won their first title since 2000, and 27th overall. The two teams' previous postseason meeting came in the 1950 World Series, with the Yankees sweeping the Phillies. After Jimmy Rollins predicted that the Phillies would win the series in five games or "six if they were nice", the Yankees went on to win the series in six.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
Cliff Lee shut down the Yankees in a complete game 6–1 victory for the Phillies in Game 1, but the Yankees responded in Game 2 with a 3–1 win. Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui homered off Pedro Martínez, and A. J. Burnett pitched 7 great innings.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
The Yankees won Game 3 behind 6 gritty innings from Andy Pettitte, coupled with the first instant replay-overturned home run in World Series history by Alex Rodriguez and homers from Nick Swisher and Matsui.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
In Game 4, the Yankees carried a 4–3 lead into the 8th inning. But with two out and no one on, Pedro Feliz lined a solo home run to left off Joba Chamberlain on a 3–2 pitch to tie the game. However, in the top of the 9th, Johnny Damon grinded out a 9 pitch at bat with two outs off Phillies closer Brad Lidge, lining a single to left center field. Damon then stole second base, and with the infield overshift on with Teixeira batting, Damon alertly stole an unoccupied third base. After Teixeira was hit by a pitch, Alex Rodriguez lined a double down the left field line to give the Yankees a 5–4 lead. Jorge Posada added two insurance runs thereafter, and Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect 9th to put the Yankees one win away from winning the series.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
Burnett imploded in Game 5, allowing six earned runs in only two innings pitched. The Yankees rallied late, but fell short as the Phillies sent the series back to The Bronx with an 8–6 win.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
Matsui earned the World Series MVP award with a performance for the ages in Game 6. He became only the second player in baseball history to collect six RBIs in a World Series game, finishing a triple short of the cycle. This included a 2-run home run in the 2nd, a 2-run single in the 3rd, and a 2-run double in the 5th. Matsui finished the series with a .615 batting average with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs.


2009 New York Yankees season, Postseason, World Series
Pitching on three-days' rest, Pettitte earned his 4th win of the postseason, becoming the first pitcher in baseball history to start and win the clinching game of all rounds in a single postseason (Derek Lowe did the same in 2004 but with one of his wins coming in relief). Rivera recorded the final five outs to give the Yankees their 27th World Series Championship, by far the most in the history of baseball and the most in North American sports.


2009 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2009 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; CG = Complete games SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2009 New York elections, Federal, 20th congressional district special election
Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the United States Senate, replacing Hillary Clinton, who resigned to become United States Secretary of State. A special election was held to fill her House seat on March 31, with Republican James Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy the two candidates. After the two finished in a near tie on election night, absentee ballots turned up a 700-vote margin for Murphy, despite the ballots being sent out to far more Republicans than Democrats. Murphy won the seat.


2009 New York elections, Federal, 23rd congressional district special election
John M. McHugh was nominated to become United States Secretary of the Army, necessitating a special election to fill his seat. Democratic candidate Bill Owens won the special election on November 3, 2009 defeating the Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman and the Republican candidate Dierdre Scozzafava, which as a result, marks the first time that a Democrat represented parts of this district since the Civil War.


2009 New York elections, Cities, Albany
Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings is expected to run for reelection. However he will likely face a very competitive primary. Councilman Corey Ellis, President of the Common Council Shawn Morris and Reverend Valerie Faust will run against Mayor Jennings.


2009 New York elections, Cities, Buffalo
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is eligible to run for reelection.


2009 New York elections, Cities, New York City
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg won a third term as mayor. There were also citywide races for Public Advocate, and Comptroller.


2009 New York elections, Cities, Rochester
Rochester mayor "Bob" Duffy will be running for reelection and said so on March 22, 2009. His opponent has not yet been announced


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election
The 2009 special election for the 20th congressional district of New York was held on March 31, 2009, to fill the vacancy created in January 2009 when the district's representative, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, was appointed US senator from New York, replacing Hillary Clinton, who had been appointed Secretary of State in the Obama administration. The two major-party candidates were Democrat Scott Murphy, a private businessman, and Republican Jim Tedisco, the minority leader of the New York State Assembly. A third-party candidate, Libertarian Eric Sundwall, was initially included in the race, but later removed from the ballot.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election
New York's 20th congressional district has historically been conservative, and early polls favored Tedisco, but by February 2009 the race was considered a toss-up. The Republican Party considered the election to be a referendum on President Obama's economic policy and as such, injected significant funding into Tedisco's campaign, using well-known Republicans such as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Congressional Minority Leader John Boehner, and former New York Governor George Pataki for support. Democrats used Senator Gillibrand, Vice President Joe Biden, and an endorsement from President Barack Obama to support the Murphy campaign.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election
Major issues brought up during the campaign were the candidates' positions on President Obama's stimulus plan, which Tedisco did not take a stance on until late in the race. Murphy supported it while Tedisco eventually opposed it. Tedisco portrayed Murphy's support of the plan as a potential cause of the AIG bonus scandal. Tedisco's campaign also brought up Murphy's failure to pay taxes on a company he founded in the 1990s. A frequent Murphy talking point was that Tedisco's primary residence was not in the Congressional district.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election
The race was so close that one early vote count had the candidates tied at 77,225 votes each. Absentee ballots decided the election; ballots were accepted until April 13. While Tedisco had been ahead in early counts, by April 10 Murphy was leading, and by April 23 Murphy had a 401-vote advantage. Tedisco conceded the race the following day, and Murphy was sworn in on April 29. Democratic electoral successes in November 2008 and Murphy's clear support of the stimulus package were credited for his success.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Background
New York's 20th district in 2009 encompassed all or part of Columbia, Dutchess, Delaware, Essex, Greene, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties. Traditionally conservative, it had been considered a safe seat for Republicans until Blue Dog Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand defeated incumbent John E. Sweeney in the 2006 election. In November 2008, the Republican Party held an enrollment advantage of 70,632 registered voters across the district, down from a 93,337-voter advantage when the district lines were drawn by the New York State Legislature in 2002.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Background
Although Republican George W. Bush carried the district by an eight-point margin in the 2004 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama won the district in 2008 by a three-point margin, or approximately 10,000 votes of over 330,000 cast. Gillibrand was reelected in 2008 by 24 points, a fourfold increase over her 2006 margin.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Background
One of Barack Obama's first decisions as president-elect was to appoint Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York and former Democratic presidential primary opponent, as Secretary of State; Clinton resigned her Senate seat to take the position. The district's seat became vacant in January 2009 when Governor David Paterson appointed Gillibrand to the United States Senate to replace Clinton. On February 23, 2009, Governor Paterson issued a proclamation setting the date for the special election as March 31, 2009. Under state law, Paterson was not required to issue a proclamation for a special election until July 2010. Both the Rothenberg Political Report and the Cook Political Report listed the race as a toss-up.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates
In lieu of party primaries, the party nominees were chosen by a weighted vote among the county committees. The weight of the vote depended on the population of registered party voters (Republican or Democrat) in a given county.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates, Republican Party
State Senator Betty Little and former state Assembly minority leader and 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate John Faso had been in the running for the Republican nomination. Richard Wager, a former aide to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and State Senator Stephen Saland had also been mentioned. Alexander "Sandy" Treadwell, the former New York Secretary of State and 2008 U.S. House challenger, had announced he would not run. On January 24, State Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco received the endorsement of Saratoga County's Republican chairman, while the Greene County GOP endorsed Faso.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates, Republican Party
Jim Tedisco was the eventual Republican nominee, winning the GOP nomination on January 27, 2009. Tedisco represented the 110th Assembly District, which includes a significant portion of Saratoga County. Tedisco's primary residence was not in the congressional district, although he did own a house in Saratoga Springs and much of his assembly district overlapped the congressional district. This issue would become a major talking point during the campaign.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates, Democratic Party
On January 31, The Post-Star reported that the Democrats had narrowed the field of potential candidates from over two dozen applicants down to six. The Democratic chairpersons met with all six candidates at a diner in Albany on February 1, and selected Scott Murphy of Glens Falls, president of the Upstate Venture Association of New York, as their candidate. Other confirmed candidates included Saratoga County Democratic Chairman Larry Bulman, former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter, Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke, and Tracey Brooks, failed candidate for the nomination for the 21st district election in 2008.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates, Third parties
New York allows electoral fusion, which is an arrangement allowing two or more qualified parties to list the same candidate on a ballot. The Conservative Party chose to cross-endorse Tedisco on February 9, while the Working Families Party gave its endorsement to Murphy on February 17. On March 1, the Independence Party, the largest third party in the 20th district, gave its endorsement to Murphy. This was the first time the Independence Party had endorsed a Democrat in the district.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates, Third parties
Eric Sundwall, Chair of the New York Libertarian Party, was the Libertarian candidate for the seat. However, he was removed from the ballot on March 25, after 3,786 of the 6,730 signatures his campaign had collected were ruled invalid. Under state election law, independent congressional candidates must collect at least 3,500 valid signatures to be on the ballot. Two Saratoga County residents challenged over 6,000 of Sundwall's signatures; Sundwall blamed Tedisco for the effort to have him removed from the ballot.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Candidates, Third parties
The vast majority of the rejected signatures were from voters who put down their mailing address instead of the municipality in which they physically lived. Votes for Sundwall on absentee ballots, which were mailed out before he was removed from the ballot, were voided. On March 27, Sundwall announced that he would vote for Murphy in the election and urged his supporters to join him.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
The campaigns agreed to hold four debates. The first debate took place on March 2, between Tedisco and Murphy. The second debate, sponsored by WMHT and the Times Union, took place on March 19 between Murphy and Libertarian candidate Eric Sundwall. Jim Tedisco held a town hall meeting rather than attend, claiming the debate was not one of the four originally agreed upon. The third debate took place on March 23 and the final debate was on March 26.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
Strategists from both parties viewed the outcome of the race as a "referendum on President Obama's handling of the economy". Chairman Michael Steele of the Republican National Committee said the special election was the first of three elections that were "incredibly important" for the Republicans to win. The Republican leadership made this race a top priority, and Chairman Steele, former Governor George Pataki, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich helped Tedisco with fundraising. Steele visited the district twice.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
On the Democratic side, Senator Gillibrand appeared in commercials and robocalls for Murphy, and Senator Chuck Schumer helped Murphy's campaign with fundraising. Less than a week before the election, President Obama formally endorsed Murphy in a mass email to supporters and urged supporters to organize and vote for Murphy. A radio ad Vice President Joe Biden recorded for Murphy was released on March 25. That same day, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine emailed 500 of the party's top donors asking them to contribute to Murphy's campaign.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
The RNC spent $100,000 on Tedisco's behalf. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $150,000 and the Service Employees International Union spent $315,000 for Murphy. The New York State United Teachers made an effort to call its members on Murphy's behalf, while the National Right to Life, National Republican Trust and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association organizations paid for ads and mailings supporting Tedisco.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
Each candidate aimed to discredit the other by pointing out his opponent's flaws or mistakes. Republicans called attention to Murphy's failure to pay taxes on a start-up computer software company he had founded in the 1990s, drawing comparison to three high-profile Obama administration nominees who failed to pay all of their taxes. Tedisco also called attention to Murphy's failure to regularly vote in elections after the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced that Murphy had failed to vote in the 2000 presidential election, along with seven other primaries and general elections between 2000 and 2003. Believing the negative ads run by the NRCC were responsible for his drop in the polls, Tedisco announced that he would take control of campaign advertising from the NRCC.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
Murphy spent the first months of the campaign criticizing Tedisco's early refusal to disclose his position on President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. When Tedisco came out in opposition to the legislation on March 16, Murphy responded by writing "it's just shameful it took well over a month for Assemblyman Tedisco to finally admit that he'd vote 'No'". Murphy's campaign described Tedisco as a career Albany politician.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign
By mid-March, a provision in the stimulus package that grandfathered in bonuses paid to executives at troubled insurance giant AIG and other TARP recipients became a campaign issue. Tedisco, who had been criticized by Murphy for opposing the package, used the outrage over the AIG bonuses to reframe the debate. On March 19, Tedisco called for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner over the AIG controversy. Murphy responded by insisting that the stimulus package was necessary for job creation.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Campaign, Polling
† Commissioned by Tedisco's campaign and the NRCC‡ Commissioned by the DCCC


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Election
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, initial counts from the election had Murphy leading by about 60 votes out of over 150,000 cast. Columbia County's Board of Elections amended its tally the following day, reducing Murphy's lead to 25 votes. The lead alternated between the two candidates throughout early recanvassing; at one point the New York State Board of Elections had listed the election at a zero-vote margin, with each candidate having exactly 77,225 votes. By April 2, Tedisco was ahead by 12 votes. He resigned the position of Assembly Minority Leader on April 5 in preparation for a transition to Congress, and was replaced by Brian Kolb the following day. On April 7, Tedisco was ahead by 97 votes. The close tally meant that absentee ballots would decide the race.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Election
All ballots, absentee ballot envelopes, and voting machines were impounded under a court injunction sought by state Republicans. Under the court order, absentee ballots were counted in central locations rather than individual precincts. Of the 10,000 absentee ballots sent out to voters, 6,000 were returned. Absentee ballots mailed within the United States had to be received by April 7 to be counted. The deadline for overseas (including military) ballots was extended to April 13 after the United States Department of Justice sued the state to ensure they would have a reasonable chance of being counted. Counting of the absentee ballots due by April 7 began on April 8 under a New York State Supreme Court ruling sought by Murphy's campaign.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Election
The legality of about 600 absentee ballots were contested during the count, including Senator Gillibrand's ballot. By April 23, Murphy was ahead by 401 votes, and Tedisco conceded the following day. Murphy was sworn in on April 29. The official results came out in May and had Murphy winning the election with 80,833 votes (50.23%) against Tedisco's 80,107 votes (49.77%).


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Aftermath
Murphy's victory was credited to a coattail effect from Barack Obama's election in 2008. His support of the stimulus package and Tedisco's failed attempt at clearly explaining his (Tedisco's) opposition to the package also had an impact. Further explanations for the Republican defeat ranged from accusations that Tedisco "dither[ed] on the stimulus bill", to intimations that Tedisco only became his party's nominee by manipulating the selection process. In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal contended that being an "Albany careerist" and running confusing campaign ads had hurt Tedisco. Tedisco's loss immediately made him appear vulnerable to Democrats hoping to capture his seat in the Assembly.


2009 New York's 20th congressional district special election, Aftermath
The day after being sworn in, Murphy hired Todd Schulte, his campaign manager, as his new chief of staff. He also hired one of Governor Paterson's aides, Maggie McKeon, as his communications director. For his district director, Murphy turned to Rob Scholz, a Republican. Scholz had worked on Murphy's campaign and had received praise from Larry Bulman, the chairman of the Saratoga County Democratic Committee. Within a month of being elected, Murphy opened offices in Saratoga Springs and Hudson. Murphy served the remainder of his term, but lost a reelection bid on November 2, 2010, to challenger Chris Gibson, a retired Army colonel.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election
The 2009 special election for New York's 23rd congressional district was held on November 3, 2009, to select the successor to Republican John M. McHugh. McHugh was nominated to become United States Secretary of the Army on June 2, 2009, and resigned as representative of New York's 23rd congressional district on September 21, 2009, after being confirmed by the Senate.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election
The Democratic Party and the Working Families Party nominated businessman and attorney Bill Owens, and the Conservative Party of New York nominated businessman and accountant Doug Hoffman. The Republican Party and Independence Party nominated State Assembly member Dede Scozzafava, who withdrew from the race three days before the election and endorsed Owens. On Election Day, Owens defeated Hoffman.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election
The 2009 special election received significant national attention, and was alternately described as "a referendum on President Barack Obama" and "a fight over the identity of the Republican Party." The race was also noteworthy due to the Tea Party movement influence on its outcome, and for its impact on same-sex marriage legislation in New York.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Background
New York's 23rd congressional district had historically been one of the most Republican districts in the United States. The district's seat had been in Republican hands since 1873. The far northern portion of the district—including the largest city, Watertown—had not been represented by a Democrat since the 1850s. In parts of the district, the last non-Republican to represent the district had been a Whig. McHugh was first elected in 1992, and was reelected eight times with over 60% of the vote, including running unopposed in 2002.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Background
Although McHugh was consistently elected with over 60% of the vote, in recent years the district had been more competitive in United States presidential elections. George W. Bush narrowly carried the district in both 2004 against John Kerry, 51%–47%. However, Gore narrowly defeated Bush in what was then the 24th district in 2000, repeating Bill Clinton's victory there in 1996. Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the district 52%–47% in 2008.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Background
Democrats had also recently done well in the district at the state level. In a 2008 special election for New York's 48th State Senate district (which is coextensive with the northwestern portion of the 23rd congressional district and includes Watertown), Democratic Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine defeated heavily favored Republican Assemblyman Will Barclay. Aubertine became the first Democrat to represent what is now the 48th Senate district in over a century.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Background
On September 29, 2009, New York Governor David Paterson issued a proclamation setting the special election to fill the vacancy for November 3, 2009, to coincide with the 2009 general election. New York law does not provide for a primary election in cases of a special election for a vacant House seat. Instead, each party's nominee is chosen by that party's county leaders within the district.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Republican Party
Seven Republicans announced their intentions to run. Three other Republicans were considered potential candidates, but declined to run.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Republican Party
Assemblymember Dede Scozzafava was designated as the Republican nominee. On October 31, 2009, Scozzafava suspended her campaign and, on November 1, 2009, endorsed the Democratic candidate for the seat.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Democratic Party
State Senator Darrel Aubertine, who represents most of the northern portion of the congressional district, was the most widely rumored potential Democratic candidate, but he declined. State Senator David Valesky, who represents most of the southern portion of the congressional district, initially said he was interested in running, but later decided against it. Also declining to run was assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell, whose district includes Watertown.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Democratic Party
The chair of the New York Democratic Party stated that Scozzafava's husband had spoken with key local Democrats about the possibility of her switching to the Democratic Party before running for the seat.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Democratic Party
The party eventually selected Bill Owens, a military veteran and attorney from Plattsburgh.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Conservative Party
The Conservative Party chose Doug Hoffman as its nominee after three other potential candidates said they would support him, even though Hoffman did not live in the district. The Conservative Party declined to support the Republican Party's nomination of pro-choice, pro-same-sex-marriage, pro-union Assemblymember Dede Scozzafava, who Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long described as a "nice lady who is too liberal."


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Conservative Party
Hoffman had previously sought the Republican nomination. In July, when Scozzafava was nominated instead, Hoffman offered to help her. His email to her read: "Hi Dede, Congratulations and the best of luck in your candidacy. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Doug." Shortly thereafter, however, he contacted Conservative Party leaders, seeking support for his own candidacy. One Republican leader said that Hoffman, while seeking the Republican nomination, had "repeatedly" pledged to support the nominee.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Other parties
The chairman of the Independence Party of New York announced that the party would have cross-endorsed Aubertine had he run, but with his decision not to run, the party instead backed Scozzafava. After she suspended her campaign, the state chairman of the party endorsed Bill Owens, though several local chairmen instead endorsed Hoffman. Scozzafava remained on the ballot on the Independence Party line (as well as the Republican line).


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Candidates, Other parties
The Working Families Party backed Owens. Under New York's fusion rule, Owens's votes on the Democratic line and on the Working Families line were combined into a single total.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
The race drew significant national attention because of the relatively large amount of support for a third-party candidate from the national conservative base. The Susan B. Anthony List embarked on a $100,000 independent expenditure campaign for Hoffman. Many notable Republicans, including former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, endorsed Hoffman rather than the Republican candidate because they deemed Scozzafava insufficiently conservative and ideologically indistinguishable from the Democrat. Scozzafava also drew strong opposition from the Tea Party movement, with national Tea Party leader Michael Johns saying that his opposition to Scozzafava "was the first time in my 25-year political and policy career that I ever opposed a Republican candidate."


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
The Hoffman campaign ran television advertisements depicting Scozzafava and Owens as "two peas in a liberal pod." Hoffman indicated support for tax cuts, and a pro-life stance on abortion, as well as opposition to same-sex marriage, the Obama health reform proposal, card-check legislation, and cap-and-trade legislation.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
Scozzafava's record in the New York State Assembly included votes in favor of same-sex marriage, and she had also received an award from a Planned Parenthood affiliate in 2008. Scozzafava's political positions included support for "card check" legislation, support for federal funding for abortion, support for President Obama's 2009 stimulus package, and a refusal to rule out support for health care reform that includes a "public option." While Bill Owens did not favor public funding for abortion, he did support President Obama's 2009 stimulus package and "card check" legislation.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
An October 1, 2009, poll by the Siena Research Institute put Hoffman in third place with 16% support, behind Scozzafava with 35% and Owens with 28%. However, a Siena poll released two weeks later indicated that Owens led Scozzafava by four percentage points and Hoffman by 10%. Polls taken a few days before the election showed Scozzafava's support collapsing; an October 31 poll showed Scozzafava trailing both Hoffman and Owens by 15% and 16%, respectively.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
Scozzafava suspended her campaign on October 31. In response to the Scozzafava withdrawal, the Republican National Committee (RNC), which had strongly backed Scozzafava's candidacy, issued a statement applauding her decision and announcing it was now supporting Hoffman. National Democrats immediately began a "vigorous effort" to convince Scozzafava to endorse Owens. On November 1, Scozzafava endorsed Democratic nominee Owens.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, while having initially supported the GOP nominee, remarked that he was "deeply upset" about her endorsement of Owens after Scozzafava's withdrawal from the race. RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele questioned party leaders in upstate New York for using a committee process to select a congressional candidate. "Maybe you should have a primary the next time instead of having 11 guys in a room sit around and select your nominee," said Steele. The New York Republican Party issued a statement saying Scozzafava's endorsement was a "betrayal" of the party and said "In contacting Scozzafava, the Obama White House has once again played its Chicago-style politics here in New York."


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
On November 2, one day before the election, Siena released the results of a new poll showing Hoffman leading Owens 41% to 36%. Vice President Joe Biden appeared with Owens at a campaign rally in Watertown on November 3, while former U.S. Senator and 2008 presidential candidate Fred Thompson appeared with Hoffman.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Campaign
On Election Day, police were called to at least two polling sites in St. Lawrence County following "overzealous electioneering" by supporters of Hoffman. Later, Hoffman accused the Democratic Party of "bringing in ACORN" and trying to "steal this election away from the 23rd district", asserting that a campaign volunteer's tires had been slashed. Anton Troianovski of The Wall Street Journal later quoted Captain Michael Branch of the Plattsburgh City Police Department as saying "This was not a tire slashing—this was some guy who drove over a bottle and cut his tire."


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Polling
† Poll commissioned by Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman‡ Poll commissioned by the Club for Growth, which endorses Doug Hoffman§ Poll commissioned by the Minuteman PAC, which endorses Doug Hoffman


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Results and aftermath
On Election Day, Owens appeared to defeat Hoffman, with the margin of defeat initially reported as 49.0% to 45.5%. Although Hoffman initially conceded, an initial re-canvass resulted in a Hoffman gain of approximately 2,000 votes before military and absentee ballots were further factored in. Poll inspectors reported Mr. Hoffman had inadvertently received zero votes in four districts.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Results and aftermath
With absentee ballots having yet to be tallied, the results of the election could not be officially certified by the State of New York, though Owens was sworn in based upon unofficial results. Owens was seated in time to vote "yea" on the Affordable Health Care for America Act on November 7, 2009.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Results and aftermath
Hoffman withdrew his concession on November 17, 2009. On November 18, in a letter posted on his campaign website, Hoffman declared that "ACORN, the unions and Democratic Party...tampered with the ballots of voters in NY-23." Jerry O. Eaton, Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner, called Hoffman's assertion "absolutely false". On November 19, the Gouverneur Times alleged that a computer virus had "tainted" results and "cast doubt on the accuracy of the counts retrieved from any of the machines." John Conklin, director of public information for the NY State Board of Elections, stated that "the article...unfortunately quoted a single word from a commissioner who mischaracterized the issue in question." Hoffman later retracted his accusations.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Results and aftermath
With the tallying of absentee-ballots near completion, on November 20, 2009, Owens' lead over Hoffman surpassed the total number of absentee ballots left, making it mathematically impossible for Hoffman to win. On November 24, Hoffman ended his campaign, stating "...it is with a heavy heart that we declare this election over. We will formally end this election and not ask for a recount." The final election results showed that Owens prevailed by a margin of 48.3% to 46%.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Results and aftermath
Owens was later re-elected to Congress in 2010 and 2012.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Results and aftermath
A week after the 2009 election, Scozzafava was stripped of her Republican leadership position in the State Assembly. After Scozzafava's unsuccessful congressional campaign, she acknowledged that her name had begun being used as a verb: "scozzafavaed." Commentator Chris Good described the term as follows: "The gist, basically, is that if you're a moderate Republican and the conservative wing of the GOP sets out to get you, and does, you got Scozzafavaed." In April 2010, Scozzafava announced that she would not run for re-election to the New York State Assembly in November 2010. In January 2011, Scozzafava was appointed New York Deputy Secretary of State for Local Government by Democratic Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Analysis
While some observers called the race "a referendum on President Barack Obama" and "a fight over the identity of the Republican Party", others saw "a victory for populist conservatism". One commentator stated that "Hoffman's third-party candidacy is striking for how much it has galvanized the Republican Party's base." According to one commentator, "[t]ea party conservatives see the GOP loss as a victory for conservativism over mere political party loyalty. They’re describing the defeat as a warning shot fired in defense of principle."


2009 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, Analysis
According to Marilyn Musgrave of Susan B. Anthony List, "Republican party leaders in Washington should take the message of the campaign and the election seriously, that the Party base should not be taken for granted." Elected officials and observers opined that Scozzafava's showing in the congressional race affected the New York State Senate's December 2, 2009 vote against same-sex marriage legislation.


2009 New Zealand Grand Prix
The 2009 New Zealand Grand Prix was an open wheel racing car race held at Manfeild Autocourse, near Feilding on 1 March 2009.


2009 New Zealand Grand Prix
It was the fifty-fourth New Zealand Grand Prix and was open to Toyota Racing Series cars (based on international Formula Three regulations). The event was also the third race of the fifth round of the 2008–09 Toyota Racing Series. Daniel Gaunt won his second New Zealand Grand Prix in three years, reclaiming the honours from Andy Knight.


2009 New Zealand Music Awards
The 2009 New Zealand Music Awards was the 44th holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical artists based in or originating from New Zealand. Finalists for the three technical awards were announced on 6 August 2009, with winners announced on 2 September at the Langham Hotel. Finalists for 14 'non-technical' categories were also revealed the same night. Five 'non-technical' awards were presented without a group of finalists being selected. The awards ceremony took place on 8 October 2009 at Vector Arena, Auckland. Broadcast live on television by C4, the ceremony was hosted by comedian Dai Henwood.


2009 New Zealand Music Awards
Ladyhawke won six awards, including Album and Single of the Year. This was the most awards won at a ceremony since 2004, when Scribe also won six. The People's Choice Award was won by Smashproof, who also claimed the award for the highest selling New Zealand Single. Fat Freddy's Drop were nominated in seven categories, including all three technical categories, and gained the Best Aotearoa Roots Album award. Midnight Youth were finalists in seven categories, and secured awards for Best Group, Best Rock Album and Best Engineer.


2009 New Zealand Music Awards
The highest selling New Zealand Album was The Best: '98-'08, a greatest hits album by rock group The Feelers, while Tiki Taane's "Always on My Mind" achieved the Radio Airplay Record of the Year award. Ray Columbus & the Invaders were awarded the Legacy Award at the announcement of technical award winners, and were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.


2009 New Zealand NBL season
The 2009 NBL season was the 28th season of the National Basketball League. Two changes occurred for the 2009 season, with the Christchurch Cougars replacing the Canterbury Rams, and the Otago Nuggets also withdrawing. The Waikato Pistons won the championship in 2009 to claim their fourth league title.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season
The 2009 New Zealand Warriors season was the 15th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished 14th (out of 16). The coach of the Warriors was Ivan Cleary while Steve Price was the team's captain. In 2009 Warriors games were broadcast on New Zealand's Sky network averaged 107,163 viewers.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Jersey and sponsors
The Warriors used a new jersey design in 2009, produced by Canterbury of New Zealand. Previously Puma AG had supplied the Warriors with apparel. The jerseys were unveiled on 25 February. The Main jersey retained the Black & White colours of the previous jersey, with a reversed scheme for the away jersey. The Warriors used a Blue jersey for the "Heritage round" in Round 10, to represent the Auckland. The Heritage jersey was also worn in Round 12, to celebrate the centenary of the Auckland Rugby League, and in Rounds 24 and 25.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Jersey and sponsors
Vodafone New Zealand was again the naming rights sponsor of the Warriors in 2009. Lion Red was the sleeve sponsor. Suzuki and HiFX were featured on the shorts while Loadlift was on the back of the jersey. Other major sponsors included ZM and Flava.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Fixtures
The Warriors used Mt Smart Stadium as their home ground in 2009, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Ladder
* Bulldogs stripped of 2 competition points after an interchange breach in round 2


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Squad
The Warriors used Twenty Nine players in 2009. Twelve players made their debut for the club, including eight making their National Rugby League debuts.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Sonny Fai
Warrior Sonny Fai went missing at around 7pm on 4 January 2009, after being caught in a rip current while trying to save some family who had got into difficulty at Te Henga (Bethells Beach), Auckland. His body is yet to be found. The entire team attended his two memorial services, one in a Samoan Methodist Church and one held at Te Henga (Bethells Beach).


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Sonny Fai
The Warriors wore black armbands for their opening NRL match of the 2009 season, as well as jerseys embroidered with Fai's signature and official team number in honour of him.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Other Teams
In 2009 the Junior Warriors again competed in the Toyota Cup while senior players who were not required for the first team played with the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup. The Auckland Vulcans were coached by Bernie Perenara and finished 11th out of eleven teams.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Other Teams
Daniel O'Regan was the Vulcan's player of the year, while Pita Godinet was the runner up and Sione Tongia was the rookie of the year.


2009 New Zealand Warriors season, Other Teams, 2009 Junior Warriors
Siuatonga Likiliki was named in the 2009 Toyota Cup team of the year.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games
The 2009 New Zealand Winter Games was a multi-sport event that was held in the Otago region of New Zealand. It was the inaugural New Zealand Winter Games and was organised by the Winter Games New Zealand Trust. Approximately 816 athletes from 41 nations participated in 51 event in seven disciplines.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games
Canada won the Team Trophy through points accumulated through the medals won during the games. The United States finished second and Japan third. The hosts, New Zealand finished in sixth place.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Venues
The venues for the 2009 New Zealand Winter Games were held around four locations in the Otago region – Queenstown, Wanaka and Naseby. The Alpine skiing events were situated at Coronet Peak, which is just outside Queenstown. Outside Wanaka the cross-country skiing events were held at the Snow Farm ski area. The freestyle skiing and snowboarding events were split across three venues  – The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort and the Queenstown Resort College. The curling events were held at the Maniototo Curling Rink in Naseby and both the figure skating and ice hockey was held at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Participating nations
A total of 816 athletes and 295 management staff represented 41 countries at the 2009 New Zealand Winter Games.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Sports Events
Seven winter sports events were included in the 2009 New Zealand Winter Games. The alpine skiing consisted of 16 events. The events include slalom, giant slalom, super G, with both men and women's events. There are also International Paralympic Committee (IPC) adaptive events for the giant slalom and slalom for men and women in the three categories of sitting, standing, and visually impaired. The alpine skiing was originally meant to include an adaptive Super G category but it was cancelled due to weather.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Sports Events
The cross-country skiing consisted of 15 events. The men's events included a 15 km classic, a sprint freestyle and a 10 km freestyle. The women's events included a 10 km classic, a sprint freestyle and a 5 km freestyle. The IPC events included a 10 km event, a sprint event, a skate event, and a classic event for both men and women in the categories of sitting and standing. The freestyle skiing consisted of five events including slopestyle, halfpipe, with both men and women's events, and a men's big air event. The freestyle skiing was also meant to include ski cross but it was cancelled due to weather.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Sports Events
The snowboarding consisted of five events including slopestyle, snowboard cross, halfpipe, with both men and women's events, and a men's big air event. A women's big air event was also meant to be included but was also cancelled due to weather. The curling included two events, one for men and one for women, while the ice hockey consisted of just one event with Australia competing against New Zealand. Figure skating included six events for both men and women across the categories of junior, novice, and senior.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Sports Events
There were two demonstrative sports at the 2009 New Zealand Winter Games. Winter triathlon and an open men's and an open women's event, and the natural luge consisted of a junior men's and a junior women's event.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Sports Events
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sport.


2009 New Zealand Winter Games, Medal table
Seventeen of the 41 countries that participated in the games won medals. Canada topped the medal table with ten golds, beating Japan only with the number of silver medals it attained. Canada also won the Team Trophy which is decided based points accumulated according to medals won. The United States and Japan finished second and third, respectively. The hosts finished sixth in both the medal table and the Team Trophy standings.


2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition
The 2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition was a provincial rugby competition, that was played between six women's rugby teams representing 6 different regions of New Zealand. There was a 5-week round-robin running from 22 August to 19 September followed by two semi-finals on 26 September and a grand final on 3 October. The Rugby Union Bonus Points System was used to determine which teams will go on to the finals. Auckland were crowned champions for the second year in a row when they beat Canterbury 24–20.


2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition, Standings
The top four teams in pool play will advance to the Semi Finals.


2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition, Round-Robin
The 2009 Women's Round Robin ran from 22 August to 19 September. Each team played the other teams once with each team having 2 or 3 home games.


2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition, Finals
The finals will run over two weeks with the first week being to semifinals and the grand final a week later.


2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition, Finals, Semifinals
The two semifinals were held on 26 September. Canterbury comfortably beat Hawke's Bay, 55 - 3 while Auckland beat Wellington 19 points to 3.


2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition, Finals, Grand Final
The 2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Grand Final was played on 3 October when Canterbury who went undefeated throughout the round-robin lost to Auckland at Rugby Park in Christchurch 24–20. A time is yet to be specified.


2009 New Zealand budget
The New Zealand budget for fiscal year 2009-2010 was presented to the New Zealand House of Representatives by Finance Minister Bill English on 28 May 2009.


2009 New Zealand budget
This was the first budget Bill English has presented as Minister of Finance.


2009 New Zealand budget, Outline
The fifth National Government's first Budget was delivered with the New Zealand economy in recession from the last quarter of 2007, and a Global Financial Crisis and rising national debt.


2009 New Zealand budget, Outline
The 2009 Budget included new spending of $5.8 billion to "help maintain economic activity and to support jobs". New spending included a home insulation and clean heating campaign, infrastructure investment and a national cycleway network.


2009 New Zealand budget, Outline
The Budget confirmed 2009 tax cuts but deferred the second and third tranches of planned tax cuts in 2010 and 2011 as "unaffordable". Automatic contributions to the New Zealand Super Fund were suspended. $2 billion of planned spending by the previous Government's was reprioritised.


2009 New Zealand budget, Outline
Budget 2009 forecast gross debt to peak at 43% of GDP in 2016/17.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum
The 2009 New Zealand Referendum on Child Discipline was held from 31 July to 21 August, and was a citizens-initiated referendum on parental corporal punishment. It asked:


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum
Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum
Voter turnout was 56.1%. 87.4% of votes answered 'no'. The result of the referendum was non-binding and the New Zealand government did not change the law in response to the outcome.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Background
The petition for the referendum was launched in February 2007 in response to the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill, which would remove parental correction as a defence for assault against children. The petition was organised by Sheryl Savill with support from Kiwi Party's Larry Baldock. The wording of the petition was approved by Clerk of the House David McGee on 21 February 2007.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Background
The bill, introduced by Sue Bradford, was passed its third reading in Parliament by 113 votes to 7 on 16 May 2007. Meanwhile organisations and individuals led by Larry Baldock continued to collect signatures to initiate a referendum. They fell short by about 15,500 signatures (many were invalid), and they were granted two further months to make up the difference. Eventually the petition attracted 310,000 signatures from voters, surpassing  the 285,000 signatures, or 10 percent of total voters, required to force a referendum.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Background
In June 2008, then prime minister Helen Clark announced that the referendum would not take place alongside the 2008 election as the organisers had been hoping. The decision was based on advice from the Chief Electoral Officer that holding such a referendum could lead to voter confusion. Instead, a postal ballot was selected, starting 30 July 2009 for eligible voters and closing on 21 August 2009.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Background
In June 2009, then Prime Minister John Key said that the government would change the law if it was not working, but that he believed the current law was working well.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
The wording of citizens-initiated referendum questions was ultimately the responsibility of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, David McGee. Under the referendum legislation, the wording of the question is required to "convey clearly the purpose and effect" of the referendum.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
[The question] "could have been written by Dr Seuss – this isn't Green Eggs and Ham, this is yes means no and no means yes, but we're all meant to understand what the referendum means. I think it's ridiculous myself."


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
The referendum question was interpreted by some to assume that "a smack" can form part of "good parental correction". Murray Edridge, Chief Executive of Barnardos New Zealand, claimed that the question "presupposes that smacking is part of good parental correction" which he described as "a debatable issue". Prime Minister John Key described the question as "ambiguous" and pointed out that it "could be read a number of different ways". Leader of the Opposition Phil Goff expressed concern that the question "implies that if you vote 'yes' that [sic] you're in favour of criminal sanctions being taken against reasonable parents – actually nobody believes that."


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
Both John Key and Phil Goff stated that they did not intend to vote in the referendum, with Key calling the question "ridiculous". The Prime Minister believed turnout would be low.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
Sue Bradford introduced a private member's bill, the Citizens Initiated Referenda (Wording of Questions) Amendment Bill, designed to prevent future citizens-initiated referenda from having poorly worded questions, and the National government considered adopting it.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
An example of an approved referendum question that is both leading and misleading is the NZ Referendum on Child Discipline 2009 proposed by Larry Baldock.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
The question approved for that referendum "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" is leading in that the use of the word "good" before "parental correction" makes a value-judgment which predetermines the answer. People answering the question will be drawn to answer "no" on the basis that what is "good" cannot be criminal.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
Mr Smith says the upcoming referendum will not provide clarity on the question of child discipline, because it is possible to support the 2007 amendment while voting either Yes or No to the referendum question: Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
However, Caritas recognises that in the political context of the referendum, a 'Yes' vote is seen to be a vote for the status quo, while a 'No' vote is seen to be a vote against the 2007 amendment.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
"In this context, we recommend a 'Yes' vote, as we believe the status quo is close to the position that we recommended to the Select Committee. However, the wording of the question is so ambiguous, many New Zealanders who support efforts to reduce violence against children, may in good conscience still feel obliged to vote 'No'. It will be hard to understand what the outcome of the referendum may mean," says Mr Smith.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Criticism regarding question wording
He says Caritas will be writing to the Prime Minister and other relevant politicians, expressing concern that the ambiguous nature of the question will result in an outcome that cannot be understood as either supporting or opposing the 2007 amendment.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Campaigns, The "yes" campaign
Most front-line child welfare organisations, such as Plunket Society, Barnardos, Save the Children, Unicef, Women's Refuge, CPAG, Epoch and Jigsaw, believed the referendum question was misleading, and encouraged their supporters to vote "yes". These organisations, along with many others, backed "The Yes Vote" campaign. Māori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and Green Party co-leader Russel Norman wanted the current law retained, with Norman adding he would vote Yes.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Campaigns, The "no" campaign
The "Vote NO" campaign website was launched on 22 June 2009. The campaign was supported by Simon Barnett. ACT leader Rodney Hide said he would vote no, believing parents have the right to lightly smack their children. Family First and The Kiwi Party also supported voting 'no'.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Aftermath, Government response
Prime Minister John Key promised to bring forward the planned review of the law.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Aftermath, John Boscawen's private member's bill
By coincidence, Government coalition and ACT MP John Boscawen had a private member's bill legalising smacking drawn from the ballot less than a week after the referendum. Prime Minister John Key said his National Party would vote it down, with the Labour Party and Green Party also opposed making it likely to be lost after the first reading of the bill. In September 2010 the Bill was in fact defeated 115–5 on its first reading in Parliament.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Aftermath, Binding referendum
Dissatisfied with the government's response, the Kiwi Party has put forward another referendum to make referendums legally binding. The question "Should Parliament be required to pass legislation that implements the majority result of a citizens initiated referendum where that result supports a law change?" was approved by the Clerk of the House on 17 December 2009. However, the petition failed to gain sufficient signatures and subsequently lapsed.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Aftermath, Public protests
A protest against prime minister John Key's response to the referendum was held on Saturday, 21 November 2009 in Auckland. The New Zealand Herald estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people attended.


2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum, Aftermath, 2017 election
On 24 March 2017 it was reported that New Zealand First and Winston Peters will take to the election a policy of repeal the anti-smacking law passed by the last parliament despite overwhelming public opposition. They went on to state that they will not enter any coalition or confidence and supply agreement with a party that wishes to ignore the public’s clearly stated view in a referendum on that issue after the 2017 New Zealand general election.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season
The 2009 New Zealand rugby league season was the 102nd season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the second season of the Bartercard Premiership competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The Canterbury Bulls won the minor premiership and then the premiership by defeating Auckland 26–20 in the Grand Final.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions
The New Zealand national rugby league team defeated Tonga in Rotorua before heading to Europe to compete in the Four Nations where they finished third. By defeating Tonga the Kiwis retained the Peter Leitch QSM Challenge Trophy. Coached by Stephen Kearney, the Four Nations squad included; Adam Blair, Greg Eastwood, Nathan Fien, Kieran Foran, Bryson Goodwin, Bronson Harrison, Lance Hohaia, Thomas Leuluai, Jeff Lima, Issac Luke, captain Benji Marshall, Steve Matai, Ben Matulino, Fuifui Moimoi, Frank-Paul Nu'uausala, Sam Perrett, Frank Pritchard, Junior Sau, Iosia Soliola, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Kevin Locke and Eddy Pettybourne.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions
Earlier in the year New Zealand lost 10-38 to Australia. Manu Vatuvei, Roy Asotasi, Dene Halatau, David Fa'alogo, Simon Mannering, Jason Nightingale, Sika Manu and Jerome Ropati played in this match but did not tour at the end of the year.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions, Bartercard Premiership Selection
A Bartercard Premiership Selection defeated a Samoan Residents side 62-14 on 10 October 2009. Canterbury coach Brent Stuart coached the Bartercard selection. Ruben Wiki came out of retirement to play in the match and all the proceeds were donated to the Samoan tsunami relief fund. The match was broadcast on Māori Television.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions, Bartercard Premiership Selection
Bartercard Premiership Selection: Jonny Aranga (Cant), 2-Junior Salevao (Cant), 3-Craig Smith (Cant), 4-Gunther Schaumkel (Auck), 5-James Blackwell (Auck), 6-William Heta (Auck), 7-Kelvin Wright (Auck), 8-Vince Whare (Auck), 9-Nathan Sherlock (Cant), 10-Fred Turuwhenua (Auck), 11-Chris Bamford (Cant), 12-Sialli Tufeao (Auck), 13-Jonny Limmer (Cant). Interchange: 14-Dylan Davis (Auck), 15-Patrick Matulino (Auck), 16-Sione Tongia (Auck), 17-Suaia Matagi (Auck), 18-Darren Kingi (Waikato). Coach: Brent Stuart.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Rugby League Cup
Canterbury defeated Auckland on 23 August to win the Rugby League Cup. As in 2008 the New Zealand Rugby League ruled that the Rugby League Cup would be defended in all Bartercard Premiership matches, home and away.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Bartercard Premiership
The 2009 season was the second and final Bartercard Premiership. Auckland were the defending champions. The same six provinces as in 2008 again took part in the competition. The Canterbury Bulls won the minor premiership and defeated Auckland 26–20 in the final.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Bartercard Premiership, Television
The semi-finals and grand final of the Bartercard Premiership were shown live on SKY Network Television and also delayed on free to air.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Bartercard Premiership, Warm Up Matches
In a warm up match Canterbury lost to the West Coast 20-14. This was reportedly the first time since 1989 that the West Coast had defeated Canterbury.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Bartercard Premiership, Fixtures and results
Canterbury vs. Bay of Plenty and Wellington vs. Taranaki matches were originally unable to take place as scheduled due to air travel issues. They were rescheduled to be mid-week games.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Bartercard Premiership, Junior Grades
Each of the Bartercard Premiership matches was preceded by a National Junior Competition Under 16 and Under 18 game. These two competitions ran in parallel with the senior competition. Auckland won the Under-16s final 11-10 over Taranaki while the Auckland under 18s defeated Wellington 34-10 to win that competition. Both finals were held in Cornwall Park, Auckland.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Australian competitions
The New Zealand Warriors competed in the National Rugby League competition. They finished 14th out of 16 teams and failed to make the playoffs.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Australian competitions
The Junior Warriors finished seventh before losing their Qualifying Final match.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Australian competitions
The Auckland Vulcans competed in the NSW Cup and finished 11th out of eleven teams.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Auckland
The Mt Albert Lions defeated the Papakura Sea Eagles 32–10 in the Grand Final to win the Fox Memorial. As minor premiers, the Otahuhu Leopards were awarded the Rukutai Shield. Papakura were coached by Dean Clark and included Toshio Laiseni.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Auckland
Howick won the Sharman Cup while the Manukau Magpies won the Phelan Shield.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Canterbury
Shane Endacott was the Celebration Lions' assistant coach while Phil Prescott coached Halswell.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Canterbury
The Timaru Warriors rejoined the CRL competition, after being in recess for four years.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Other Competitions
The Taniwharau Rugby League Club won the Waikato Rugby League competition.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Other Competitions
Tokoroa's Pacific won the Bay of Plenty Rugby League competition while Otumoetai won the combined Coastline-Gisborne premiership, defeating the Paikea Whalers 34–8. The Hawke's Bay's Flaxmere Falcons competed in the Bay of Plenty competition. Matthew Spence was the Turangi Dambusters' player-coach.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Other Competitions
The Paikea Whalers won the Gisborne Tairawhiti Rugby League competition, defeating the Kaiti Devils 76–14 in the grand final.


2009 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Other Competitions
Blair Sims was named the West Coast Rugby League's player of the season.


2009 Newcastle Jets W-League season
The 2009 season is the Newcastle Jets' second season of football (soccer) in Australia's women's league, the W-League.


2009 Newcastle Jets W-League season, Season 2 - 2009, Fixtures
The season will be played over 10 rounds, followed by a finals series.


2009 Newcastle Jets W-League season, Players
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Newcastle Jets W-League season, Records
First game = 0-0 draw V Adelaide UnitedLargest win = Largest loss =


2009 Newcastle Knights season
The 2009 Newcastle Knights season was the 22nd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 7th (out of 16), reaching the play-offs for the first time since 2006. The Knights were then knocked out of the finals in the first week by the Bulldogs.