The primary elections in both major parties showed signs of a thaw in the legislative lockdown that has paralyzed progress in the Legislature for at least a decade.

In previous years, the defeat of an incumbent was a rarity, and vacancies in the legislature occurred primary through the happy event of elevation to higher office, or the sad event of the death or imprisonment of the legislator.

This year, two Republican assemblymembers from the Hudson Valley were defeated in primaries. Willis Stephens Jr., a stalwart who had served six terms, lost to a young (28 years old) air force officer, Greg Ball. On the east side of the great river, a promising incumbent, Patrick Manning, lost by 248 votes to Marcus Molinari, the mayor of Tivoli, population 1,175. In addition to having some family problems, Manning pretended in a phone call to be a Molinari consultant so he could get polling information. Although this is not illegal, the deception did not amuse some of the voters.

The Democratic upsets were in Queens, Manhattan and Buffalo. The celebrated Senator Ada Smith of Queens County had previously been stripped of her leadership post in the Senate by Minority Leader David Paterson for various confrontations she had with police officers and staff members, which culminated in criminal proceedings. She lost to Shirley Huntley, a local civic leader, by about 200 votes. In this contest, Senator Smith retained the support of the Queens Democratic organization, which had deserted former Councilman Allan Jennings, who was defeated for renomination last year after sundry acts of sexual harassment.

Assemblywoman Diane Gordon of Brooklyn faces trial in a bribery case for demanding that a builder give her a very nice house in exchange for her supporting his efforts to get construction jobs. This did not, however, impair her standing with her constituents. If she is convicted of a felony, her seat will automatically be vacated, as was the case with her colleague, Clarence Norman.

One incumbent was defeated in Manhattan. Newcomer (39) Brian Kavanagh defeated veteran (67) Sylvia Friedman, who had filled the vacancy created when Steve Sanders, who had been an assemblymember since well before he was Brian’s age, retired to become a lobbyist.

Kavanagh was endorsed by the New York Times, which was probably decisive in the close neighborhood race.

In Buffalo, State Senator Marc Coppola was defeated by city council member Antoine Thompson. Coppola had won an interim term, and was handicapped by the candidacy of his cousin, Albert Coppola, who had briefly held the seat before the election of Byron Brown, who is now Mayor of Buffalo. That is more than you probably want to know about Buffalo Democratic politics, but it completes the tale of the five turnovers in the primaries.

The general election looks like even more of a runaway than the primaries. The Siena poll reports Eliot Spitzer with a 50-point lead over John Faso. The remaining issue is how this projected landslide will affect other contested offices. Senator Clinton need not rely on Spitzer’s coattails, and indeed will be competing with him as to who will roll up the larger percentage of the vote. The record so far is 71 percent, set by Senator Chuck Schumer when he was re-elected in 2004. Does anyone remember the name of his opponent? It was Howard Mills, who is now Superintendent of Insurance for NYS, by appointment of Governor Pataki.

As for the State Comptroller race, Alan Hevesi is considered assured of re-election over J. Christopher Callaghan (now you know).

The only potential contest is for Attorney General, where Andrew Cuomo’s 17-point lead over Jeanine Pirro is considered modest by this year’s standards.

The issue in greatest doubt is whether the Democrats can capture enough State Senate seats to win a majority. The Republicans have controlled the Senate for about 30 years, and gerrymandered it in their favor, just as the Democrats have gerrymandered the State Assembly. Safe seats make obedient lawmakers when the leaders draw the lines.

The presumed certainty of the election result may make the leading candidate act more like an incumbent, avoid making promises he cannot keep, and start in to deal with the issues of a state wallowing in debt, losing jobs and industry, entwined with unenforceable, unaffordable and unattainable judicial mandates, encumbered by “the most dysfunctional legislature in the country,” as proclaimed by the Brennan Center for Justice.

Our legislators are captives of their leaders, but if they were to be emancipated, we have no reason to believe that they would develop the wisdom, judgment, common sense and fiscal responsibility that has so far eluded them. (Again, we make exceptions for the ones we know; but when they all get together things just don’t seem to work out.)

Do not conclude that the situation is hopeless; it is not. What we need is for elected officials of both parties to start thinking of the good of the general public, rather than enhancing the fortunes or protecting the sinecures of their contributors.

“Where there is life, there is hope.” That is how we look at the state’s political and economic future; hoping that new leadership will provide better outcomes.

Starquest@NYCivic.org