Politics on the Hudson

Senate Republicans are privately feeling confident about winning back some seats that they have lost in recent years to the Democrats as they seek to retain control of the Senate majority.

Republicans are feeling good about Dave Renzi’s chances of taking back the 48th District seat that they lost to Democrat Darrel Aubertine in a special election in February.

Renzi has more money in the bank, as of last month’s campaign filings, and won the Conservative and Independence lines in a district with nearly 30,000 more Republicans than Democrats.

Republicans felt they never should had lost to Aubertine if not for the poorly run campaign of Assemblyman Will Barclay, and Democrats’ shrewd ads that showed Barclay as a elitist out of touch with the area.

Republicans also think they can win back the Long Island Senate seat they lost last year to Sen. Craig Johnson and feel Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld is running a strong race against Democrat Suzi Oppenheimer in Westchester.

And in a race that hasn’t made it much on the radar, Republicans think they can upset Democratic Sen. Bill Stachowski, whose Erie County district has a huge Democratic enrollment advantage.

But Stachowski’s challenger, former Cold Case Squad Detective Dennis Delano is well know for cracking cases that freed two wrongfully imprisoned inmates, even though he is now suspended because he released evidence to a local television station.