In many New York elections, voters have no choice of candidates, as Senate and Assembly members run unopposed in specially-drawn electoral districts they are sure to win.

I worked to restructure broken companies, which is why I am running for New York State comptroller — to help restructure the broken operations of New York State.

-Harry Wilson, Republican for New York State Comptroller, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Judges will often engage in behavior to make sure they stay below the radar, that they don't make a controversial decision. And that means for example, often times much harsher sentencing practices in the run-up to a retention election.

-Keith Bybee, professor at Syracuse University College of Law, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

I can't really abide the kind of intolerance and rigidity and kind of shouting. I just wasn't raised that way. The only way to get anywhere is to talk. Judge Learned Hand, the famous judge once said, 'The spirit of liberty begins with the notion that you might be wrong.'

-Walter Mondale, former Vice President of the United States, on The Leonard Lopate Show.

There is no such things as too many immigrants. This is a country of immigrants. the question is illegal immigration. That's what we oppose. Not immigration. Of course not.

-Randy Altschuler, Republican and Conservative Party nominee for Congress from New York's 1st District, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

"It's ironic that we would want to improve nutrition for children and then take away parents' ability to buy them nutritious food."

-Aine Duggan vice president of the Food Bank for New York City on The Brian Lehrer Show

Tea Party has definately increased political involvement, not only among Tea Party members but among people who oppose the Tea Party members.

-P. J. O'Rourke political humorist and Cato Institute research fellow The Brian Lehrer Show

What the pledge does do is a very healthy step in the right direction. It says no taxes increase in a recession. It says we have to focus on creating jobs. It says we have to control spending.

-Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on The Brian Lehrer Show

If you want to rebuild jobs in New York State, Carl Paladino is the only choice in the election.

-Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on The Brian Lehrer Show

We spend so much time running to the extremes that we no longer are able to relate to the other side. When you hang a label on yourself, or on someone else it's usually based on some very surface level things, or let's just say 25 percent of what that person is. But there's a whole other 75 percent trhat you can agree on, that you can find points of commonality.

We've been at recessionary levels basically since September 2008 and having a real hard time for small businesses to dig their way out of a really tough economic stretch. And so I think any kind of increase in taxes is going to be a disincentive for investment, especially in the current environment.

-Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business on The Brian Lehrer Show

I think people, especially in New York City are misunderstanding the Tea Party and misunderstanding the candidates, and I think they seem to be the only people whom a large percentage of the population really believes either has their best interests in mind, or at very least doesn't have more worse things set up for them. I really do think this is from the grassroots and these people, these representatives, these canidates really are representative of the people of the United States right now.

-Caller Alex from Jamaica, Queens, on The Brian Lehrer Show

I don’t call them hostages now. They’re just prisoners who violated Iran’s sovereignty by crossing the border between Iraq and Iran, inadvertently they claim, and I go along with that. I just got back from North Korea, bringing out a prisoner who crossed the border from China, walked across a frozen river and was captured. We have to realize that those countries have a very different framework for law and violation of their borders than we do. My hope is that we will see the release of the hikers.

-President Jimmy Carter on The Brian Lehrer Show

Carl Paladino is giving voice to how much people in New York, particularly upstate, just feel like Albany just cannot, absolutely, represent their interests.

-Liz Benjamin, host of Capital Tonight, blogger, and Daily News columnist on The Brian Lehrer Show

I'm cautiously optimistic, but strongly so, that Republicans in the House are going to do so well in November. People are tired of the old politics of villainization, of attacks and they want to see ideas come to the table based on the common sense conservative principles of less taxes, of free enterprise.

-Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Minority Whip on The Takeaway