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Gillibrand’s Appeal For ‘Kathy And Louise’
Mar 25th - 2:49 pm
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has made getting more women elected to Congress a personal quest with her “Off the Sidelines” campaign that supports Democratic female candidates across the nation.
Now the junior senator is going to bat for two prominent women incumbents who are endangered right in her own backyard: Reps. Kathy Hochul and Louise Slaughter.
Gillibrand sent an appeal this morning to her list of supporters on behalf of two “dear friends” and “inspiring women leaders” who have been targeted by the NRCC now that the special master’s House maps, which drew both of them into difficult districts, have been finalized.
“I need Kathy Hochul and Louise Slaughter by my side in Congress, fighting for New York and our common values,” Gillibrand wrote.
“Will you contribute directly to Kathy and Louise’s re-election campaigns today so they know you stand with them?”
“Kathy and Louise are going to have tough re-election fights this November, so I hope you’ll join me in supporting them today.”
“These are two of our most dedicated public servants in Congress, working hard for their constituents day in and day out. If they come up short this month and lose in November, it would truly be a loss for our great state and women everywhere. We simply can’t let that happen.”
“So please, join me in supporting two of New York’s best, Kathy Hochul and Louise Slaughter, for re-election. Saturday is a crucial fundraising deadline and it’s so important that Kathy and Louise prove their strength to their Republican challengers. I hope you’ll join me in supporting them today.”
“Thanks for joining me in making sure we don’t lose two of New York’s brightest stars this November.”
Gillibrand’s email includes a link to an ActBlue account through which supporters can contribute to either congresswoman.
The court-appointed special master, US Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann, drew Hochul into the district of her neighboring fellow Democrat, Rep. Brian Higgins, while creating a new, +7 GOP district called NY-27.
Hochul has said she will run in NY-27 and won’t primary Higgins (although there are some who believe she might reconsider this after Higgins failed to elect his top aide, Chris Fahey, to the 145th AD in last week’s special election). Several Republicans are now duking it out for the right to take her on in November.
Slaughter’s old “earmuff” district, which joined Buffalo and Rochester through a narrow strip, has been redrawn to be more Rochester-focused and includes all of Monroe County.
That emboldened Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, who announced a challenge to Slaughter last week, although the district is still Democrat-dominated and seen as Slaughter’s to lose.
Gillibrand herself has three potential Republican challengers, who will face off in the June 26 primary: Attorney Wendy Long, who has the Conservative Party line; Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos and Rep. Bob Turner, who was drawn by Mann out of his NY-9 district.
Rivera To Labor: Let’s Kiss And Make Up (Updated)
Mar 23rd - 8:10 am
ICYMI: Assemblyman Peter Rivera, speaker pro tempore and past chair of Somos, played down the rift between top labor unions and the Latino legislative organization, saying the two sides need each other too much to continue this fight for long.
Rivera, who was on CapTon with Assemblyman Karim Camara to push for changes to the Medicaid prescription drug cuts made in the MRT, took issue with my characterization of top certain unions’ decision not to participate in this weekend’s 25th anniversary Somos event as “pulling out,” saying:
“Some individuals who are very annoyed with the Assembly and the vote that took place want to demonstrate their disappointment by not being here. That’s not a pulling out, that’s a turning their back on our conference.”
“As I was speaking to the governor recently: We need to have a relationship. There are certain issues. If you read today’s newspaper, you realize that 1199 needs over $80 million from the Assembly, from the Legislature, from the government to be able to pay their medical benefits.”
“So, we’re in a marriage. And in those marriages, we fight and we make up. And hopefully, the make-up will be sooner rather than later. “
For the record: 1199 is not among the unions that has taken their toys out of the Somos sandbox and gone home. The main boycotters are NYSUT, the UFT and CSEA.
UPDATE: I stand corrected. According to an 1199 spokeswoman, the union is indeed NOT participating in Somos this year. The amount of money the health care workers powerhouse usually contributes to the event was not immediately available. Also, it has been suggested that the $24,700 figure cited as the amount given by the teachers unions is for NYSUT along, but I’m trying to get more information on that.
But Rivera’s point is well taken nonetheless.
Labor is going to have to pick a side at some point in the upcoming elections. Even though the Senate Democrats are their the unions best friends at the moment following their redistricting-inspired walkout, which conveniently enabled them to miss the Tier VI vote, if they aren’t successful in taking back the majority, they’re not going to be able to accomplish much in the way of legislation/policy.
As for the Assembly Democrats, they’re really the only option on that side of the Capitol for the unions. It’s not as if the Republican minority is going to start voting pro-labor anytime soon, and with or without the unions’ support it’s a fairly safe bet that the Democrats are going to retain their comfortable majority quite easily.
DSCC Pushes Back On GOP Victory Lap In 27th SD
Mar 22nd - 2:41 pm
The Senate Democrats have had enough of the Republicans’ crowing over newcomer David Storobin’s potential win in the 27th SD special election Tuesday, issuing a statement from their campaign arm noting that this contest won’t be officially over until every vote is counted – a process that could take some time.
“As much as they would like it to be so, Republican fantasies do not conform to reality,” said DSCC Executive Director Josh Cherwin. “With more than 1,000 ballots left to be counted and the margin shrinking to 118, we remain optimistic that Lew Fidler will prevail in Brooklyn.”
“As we move into the election season, the inevitability of Democratic victories all across this state are evident to every objective observer. While I understand the Republicans’ panic, it does not justify their wild and false claims.”
“Voters are clamoring for a progressive Senate majority that will defend working people, protect women’s health and preserve our environment. Democrats will provide that for them.”
Cherwin’s statement comes on the heels of a press release from state GOP Chairman Ed Cox this afternoon heralding a “stunning victory” by Storobin, and insisted it bodes well for the GOP’s effort to maintain their majority this fall, adding: “How can Democrats win this November when they can’t win in a district with nearly 70,000 more Democrats than Republicans?”
The chairman got some of the numbers wrong, saying there are approximately 700 absentee ballots left to count. He also overestimated the size of the DSCC’s debt, which is considerable, but about $300,000 less than the $1.7 million figure Cox cited.
Cox isn’t alone in his slightly premature crowing. On CapTon last night, Deputy Senate Majority Leader Tom Libous told me in no uncertain terms that Storobin would emerge the winner. He said the Republicans are going to “play in New York City” this fall and “give the Democrats a run for their money,” adding: They’re going to have to defend their record, and we’re going to run on ours.
Kearns Plays Nice
Mar 22nd - 1:11 pm
ICYMI: Newly-minted Assemblyman Mickey Kearns assured me last night that he’s prepared to be a “team player” in Albany and work with his fellow Democats, despite the fact that he pledged not to vote for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and ran a decidedly anti-Silver campaign.
I asked Kearns how he expected to get anything done at the Capitol if he insists on continuing his independent approach in a place where seniority and majority rules. I noted that his predecessor, Mark Schroeder, who was also anti-Silver, was often frustrated in his efforts – particularly when it came to UB 2020, although that was a very complex issue with a lot of competing interests. Nonetheless, Schroeder largely blamed Silver when the measure failed to move.
“..The thing is, the one thing I know is you meet with people, you talk with them, you have discussions, you communicate. I have a lot of experience in the private sector. Obviously, I have governmental experience. I’m a Democrat, I’m a lifelong Democrat. When I ran for this office, I said I would caucus with the Democrats. Unfortunately, the party bosses in Buffalo didn’t want to give me that opportunity. And the voters sent a message – a clear message to them – that they wanted an independent voice.”
The Buffalo News reported this morning that Silver refused to say yesterday if Kearns would be allowed to caucus with the Democrats after his upset defeat of the party’s preferred candidate, Chris Fahey, a top aide to Rep. Brian Higgins. Silver told the BN he hadn’t yet heard from Kearns, who won on the GOP line with support from Carl Paladino, and so had “no idea” what he did and didn’t want to do upon arriving in Albany.
Silver did issue a statement late Tuesday night welcoming all four Democrats – including Kearns and Didi Barrett, who has not yet been declared the victory in the too-close-to-call 103rd AD race, but his comments to the BN seemed to contradict that.
Well, Kearns is in Albany today, and he sat down with Silver, according to the Assembly Democrats spokesman, Michael Whyland. The two had a “good conversation,” said Whyland, who added: “(kearns) has indicated he
wants to conference with the Democrats and will adhere to Democratic principles.”
After the meeting, Silver confirmed to Gannett that Kearns had indeed asked to caucus with the Democrats. The majority conference will be “discussing” that request, the speaker said.
Senate Dems Budget: Dream Act, Microstamping And Hydrofracking Study
Mar 21st - 10:51 am
Senate Democrats put out a wish list of budgetary items this morning pushing for money to study the health impacts of hydrofracking, a health insurance exchange and a total state takeover of Medicaid costs.
The conference is also pushing for non-budgetary policy items in the spending plan as well, like the ballistic-identification process known as microstamping.
And the 25-member conference is also pushing for the state version of the Dream Act (Sen. Bill Perkins had attempted a hostile amendment enacting a portion of the bill late yesterday afternoon, but failed).
“Senate Democrats believe we must advocate for all New Yorkers, not just the powerful and privileged. Republicans are proposing a budget which ignores some of the most crucial issues facing this state and is completely unrealistic about others,” stated Senate Democratic Leader John L. Sampson. “After unprecedented cuts were made to critical services and programs last year we are still faced with hard choices as many New Yorkers struggle.”
Needless to say it’s unlikely these agenda items will wind up in the final spending plan due April 1.
The Democrats in the Senate, long maligned for incompetence and lacking a clear message, are uniting in part to their opposition to the Tier Six plan (though they left the chamber over redistricting when the pension bill came up for a vote).
But by opposing Tier Six at least in public allows them to shore up their support among the state’s deep-pocketed unions still smarting from their legislative defeat last week.
Senate Democrats Urge Republicans to Include Key Programs in Final Budget (1)1
Reilly Aide Mulls Run For Boss’ Seat
Mar 21st - 8:00 am
The race for retiring Democratic Assemblyman Bob Reilly‘s seat is getting more crowded by the day. The latest contestant to mull throwing his hat into the ring is Reilly’s chief of staff, Tim Nichols.
Nichols, who does double duty as an Albany County legislator, confirmed last night that he is mulling a run, even though his boss has already endorsed a successor – Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari’s top aide, Kevin Frazier.
In a brief telephone interview last night, Nichols told me he’s “very seriously considering” a run, and in the meantime still continuing his duties as the assemblyman’s top aide.
“I have not made a decision as to what my plans are, and so I feel an obligation to continue serving in the capacity as chief of staff to help Bob and help people of 109th district,” Nichols said.
“That’s how I see my job right now. We’ll leave it at that.”
Nichols said he’s unconcerned about the changes in the district, which actually was renumbered the 110th from the 109th in the redistricting process.
The bulk of the district will remain the same, with its base in Colonie – long Nichols’ home. The additions in Schenectady and Niskayuna are fine with him, the county legislator said, because he is familiar with the area and has family members there.
Nichols said he expects to make a decision in the next couple of weeks. He would not comment on whether he’ll ask Reilly to reconsider his endorsement of Frazier, saying only: “He made a decision and, you know to be honest, I’m not really prepared to comment on it at this time.”
The TU reports Republican Jennifer Whalen, who lost a close race to Reilly in 2010, is mulling another run now that the seat is open.
Also, Nichols’ county legislative colleague, Phil Steck, is planning to run. So this could end up a three-way Democratic primary before all is said and done.
Special Election Cleanup
Mar 21st - 6:29 am
There were upsets at both ends of the state last night as the race for ex-Sen. Carl Kruger’s Brooklyn seat was too close to call, with both candidates declaring victory, and an insurgent Democrat backed by Carl Paladino defeated an aide to Rep. Brian Higgins in Buffalo’s 145th AD.
In the 27th SD, which is only slated to exist for another eight months, thanks to the Senate GOP’s redistricting plan and the desire to create a so-called “super Jewish” district, both Republican David Storobin and Democratic NYC Councilman Lew Fidler insisted they had won – yet another bizarre twist in a campaign that has been full of them.
The unofficial tally, according to the NYC Board of Elections: 10,756, Storobin; 10,636, Fidler, with 757 paper ballots to be counted. The machines were impounded. This one’s likely going to court.
Even if Fidler manages to eke out a paper ballot win, this race was still a blow to the Senate Democrats as they gear up to try to take back the majority this fall.
They will say that special elections are unpredictable animals and not indicative of general election results, and they’re right. But this is a Democrat-dominated district – albeit with conservative-leaning pockets of voters who can swing both ways, politically – and the race was widely viewed as Fidler’s to lose.
Even the GOP didn’t fully expect to win.
But here we are, with another unexpected special selection situation for the Republicans to crow about, a good election-year storyline. First Rep, Bob Turner won last year’s contest for ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s old Brooklyn/Queens district (which no longer exists, thanks to redistricting), and now Storobin leads in this battle for a different Brooklyn seat.
And again, it sounds like the Orthodox Jewish community played a big role in this race. Ditto the Russian community.
Also worth noting: Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn’t lift a finger to assist Fidler and the Senate Dems, while he did record robos for two of the Assembly Democratic candidates – Chris Fahey (who lost) and Didi Barrett (locked in a too-close-to-call race).
In the 145th, Common Council Member Michael “Mickey” Kearns trounced Higgins aide Fahey – 7,106 to 5,357 – a blow to the establishment Democrats and a win for the insurgent, anti-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver set.
Kearns, who was backed by Paladino, released one TV ad during the campaign, and it accused Fahey of being a Silver “puppet.” Fahey, on the other hand, had an ad that featured his boss, Higgins, who is preparing for a re-election bid himself in a newly-drawn – and supposedly safe – Buffalo/Niagara Falls seat.
The Buffalo News called Kearns’ win a “stunning upset,” and Dems on the ground who emailed me throughout the night were downright baffled about how this had happened.
It was also a redemption of sorts for GOP County Chairman Nick Langworthy and ex-County Executive Chris Collins political team after last year’s NY-26 special election loss of Assemblywoman Jane Corwin to Rep. Kathy Hochul. (Kearns ran on the GOP and Conservative lines, but has said he’ll caucus with the Democrats).
One insider suggested the real loser here was Higgins, who looks very weak after not being able to get his own aide elected in his own backyard.
This insider suggested maybe Hochul would re-think her decision not to primary Higgins and focus on him instead of running in the newly-drawn, +7 GOP NY-27. Seems a long-shot, especially since petitioning started yesterday for House races, but you never know.
Another insider noted the long history in the 145th of anti-Silver statements. (The seat’s last occupant, Buffalo Comptroller Mark Schroeder, cast the lone “no” vote in the speaker’s re-election to his leadership post).
Also, according to this source, Fahey, who has never held office before, started 15 points down in this race, so his loss to an established elected official with name recognition shouldn’t come as such a shock – no matter what the internals said.
In the other three Assembly specials, Shelly Mayer, the Senate Democrats’ former counsel, won an easy victory for Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano’s old seat in the 93rd AD. She was essentially unopposed.
The 103rd AD race was almost a dead heat, with Democrat Barrett and Republican Richard Wager separated by just 154 votes, and an estimated 1,000 absentees left to count.
In the 100th, Democrat Frank Skartados easily defeated Republican John Forman to win back the seat he lost to the late Republican Assemblyman Tom Kirwan by just 15 votes in 2010.
Silver issued a late-night statement – sent out by DACC, not the Assembly itself – offering a warm welcome to four new Democratic members, despite the fact that Barrett’s race hasn’t yet been called.
“I am delighted that unofficial tallies show that four new Democrats were elected tonight, bringing our Assembly Majority conference to 101,” Silver said.
“We welcome them to the New York State Assembly as we work to produce an on-time budget that protects working families.”
Even without Barrett, the Democrats have succeeded in preventing the Republicans from gaining back their veto-proof majority. So that’s something.
From The Department Of Kremlinology
Mar 20th - 6:46 pm
Sen. Adriano Espaillat is seeing red after Republicans declined to allow an amendment to Sen. Hugh Farley’s library bill that would helped enact part of the DREAM Act.
In the latest dust up between the Senate conferences, Sen. Bill Perkins tried to get Senate Republicans to submit to a hostile amendment on the floor at this afternoon’s legislative session. After some complicated wrangling and debate over Senate rules arcana, the amendment was bottled up.
Espaillat, who is launching a campaign for Congress this week, was clearly eager to get the sound bite off at a gaggle following the session.
“The New York state Senate is beginning to look more and more like the Kremlin where people are disallowed from speaking their mind. You know, New Yorkers send their representatives up to Albany so they could have a voice in the process, so rank and file members of the Senate and the Assembly can articulate their concerns of communities across the state of New York. But the way the Senate is being run — heavy-handed, with an iron fist — is beginning to look like the Kremlin.”
Republicans hold a 32-29 majority in the Senate and Democrats have been at the very least an irritant to the GOP trying to stay on message in an election year.
Hinchey Aide To Challenge Hanna
Mar 20th - 3:10 pm
Retiring Rep. Maurice Hinchey’s longtime aide, Dan Lamb, had hoped to seek his departing boss’ seat, but now that NY-22 has fallen victim to redistricting, Lamb has decided to challenge an incumbent Republican – Rep. Richard Hanna – instead.
“I’m running for Congress to help restore the American Dream that has unfortunately fallen out of reach for far too many middle class New Yorkers in recent years,” Lamb said in a statement issued this afternoon.
“Our country’s values and principles have been derailed by a radical, politicized agenda in Washington that Richard Hanna has fully embraced, and it’s time to help get our country back on track. Upstate New York has real challenges that need to be addressed.”
“Our infrastructure is crumbling, our economy is lagging, our schools are getting more and more crowded, our debt is growing, and all Richard Hanna and the Republican leaders in Congress offer are obstruction and political games. The best way to reduce the debt is to put people back to work. The Richard Hanna approach of cutting taxes for the wealthiest one percent and slashing vital programs, such as Medicare and education, is a recipe for failure.”
“It’s wrong for upstate New York and it’s wrong for the country. I’m running for Congress to turn this situation around.”
Lamb has served as as a district representative for Hinchey in the Binghamton district office since 1998, advising Hinchey on key issues, including job creation, economic growth, education, infrastructure development, flood recovery and hydraulic fracturing.
The new 22nd congressional district contains a significant portion of Hinchey’s former district, Lamb noted. It tilts slightly more Democratic than the old NY-24 that Hanna lost in 2008, but won in 2010.
According to a “state of play” memo circulated by the DCCC yesterday, 49.1 percent of voters in Hanna’s current district cast ballots for Obama in 2008, while 50.1 percent voted for him in the newly configured district.
In addition, Hanna – like four of his fellow GOP freshman – Ann Marie Buerkle, Chris Gibson, Nan Hayworth, and Tom Reed – ousted a Democrat in the 2010 midterm elections that were very good for Republicans. Since this is a presidential year, Democrats expect at least some of those seats to flip back into their hands.
So far, Lamb is the only Democrat to formally announce a challenge to Hanna (I think; it’s hard to keep track with all the line changes). There was some speculation that he might challenge Reed, but two other Democrats who had planned to run in NY-22 – Nate Shinagawa, vice chairman of the Tompkins County Legislature, and Ithaca lawyer Leslie Danks Burke – are already in that race.
Another Democrat who had considered a run for Hinchey’s seat, Sean Patrick Maloney, is now running against Hayworth; and former Ulster County Democratic Chairman Julian Schreibman is challenging Gibson.
Fidler Siphons Last-Minute Cash Through DSCC
Mar 20th - 1:24 pm
NYC Councilman Lew Fidler, who is facing off against Republican David Storobin in today’s special election for former Sen. Carl Kruger’s Brooklyn seat, sent $20,000 to the DSCC today, according to the state Board of Election’s 24-hour filing list.
That’s on top of the $10,000 Fidler forwarded to the DSCC on March 16, $30,000 (in $10,000 increments) on March 14, and $40,000 transferred into its account as of the 11-day pre-special election filing. At that point, the DSCC reported spending $60,458 on his behalf.
Candidates often send campaign cash to a party or conference operation to take advantage of their reduced rate for mailers and to pay for GOTV, ads or polling.
As of 11 days prior to today’s election, the Senate Republican Campaign Committee had spent $123,866 to assist Storobin. That’s considerably more than the Dems are spending on Fidler, which stands to reason, given his fundraising advantage and the district’s Democratic enrollment edge, but it’s still not exactly the “tremendous” amount Storobin once boasted the GOP would be dumping into this race.
The post special election reports will tell a fuller story of the last-minute spending on both sides, which, unlike the last-minute giving, isn’t required to be reported to the BofE.
Of course, whoever wins today isn’t going to have long to enjoy his new seat, the 27th SD is essentially ceasing to exist, making way for a new so-called “super Jewish” district. Fidler has been drawn into Senate Minority Leader John Sampson’s district by the GOP, but has vowed to run for re-election if he wins today.
Aside from the $60,000 Fidler sent their way of late, the Senate Dems received two big infusions of cash today – $25,000 to their housekeeing account, which has no contribution limits, from PHRMA; and another $25,000 from the Empire Dental PAC.
The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, which has four seats in play today, received a big boost from the Uniformed Firefighters Association ($25,000) yesterday and also got $50,000 from the Drive Committee, which is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ PAC. The same committee gave the Senate Republicans $25,000 last week.
Another big bump to DACC came from NYSUT, which gace $35,000. Overall, the Democrats in both houses have been leading the last-minute money race. City&State’s Laura Nahmias has more on this.
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