The prevailing political ethos of the residents of Upstate New York varies from that of their Downstate counterparts. Voting patterns Often attributed to the region's rural to semi-rural character, it is more reactionary in culture and politics than the more urban downstate area, and it is the power base of the state's Republican Party. Upstate New York, however, has several pockets of Democratic influence. Western New York, particularly Buffalo, has been a Democratic stronghold for over a century. The Capital District, particularly Albany, Schenectady and Troy, was long the only Democratic bastion in the eastern upstate. Other pockets of Democratic strength are Monroe County (Rochester), Onondaga County (Syracuse), and Tompkins County (Ithaca). As a whole, Upstate New York is roughly equally divided in federal elections between Democrats and Republicans. In 2004, John Kerry defeated George W. Bush by less than 1,500 votes (1,553,246 votes to 1,551,971) in the Upstate region. Historically, the Republicans in the region more closely resemble Rockefeller Republicans, who were pro-business but socially liberal Republicans who supported the policies of former Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Others are libertarians like Republicans in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and some western states, instead of the social conservatism of the southern states and the Religious Right. However, the Religious Right is still influential in the area, mainly in the Central New York and Tug Hill Plateau regions. The influence of public service labor unions is a factor in the Democratic Party's continued strength in the region. Hospitals and public schools are among the area's largest employers, and the agencies have unionized workers. Unionized workers as a whole make up one fourth of New York workers, the most in the nation. The unions, most notably the Service Employees International Union and New York State United Teachers, make large purchases of television air time on local television and radio stations during budget negotiations and prior to school budget votes to air commercials featuring scare tactics threatening the closure of hospitals or emergency rooms, larger class sizes, and reduced care unless they receive more money. Organized rebuttals have been few and far between although more frequent in recent years. Eliot Spitzer's use of his personal campaign funds to push through his 2007 reforms was the first, and more recent movements include the Rochester businessman Tom Golisano's Responsible New York campaign and the Buffalo developer Carl Paladino's calls for a constitutional convention directly to quash union-friendly