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GOP Support For Rep. Israel’s Tea Party Opponent
Feb 2nd - 4:04 pm
A reader forwarded this invite for a fundraiser that took place in Washington, D.C. yesterday to support Stephen Labate, a Tea Party backed Republican who’s running against DCCC Chairman/Rep. Steve Israel in Long Island’s 2nd Congressional District.
The breakfast event at the Chamber of Commerce building was fairly modest, asking $500 from PACs and $250 from individuals to attend.
What surprised this (Democratic) reader was the names of the headliners: U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican; and three members of NY’s own GOP House delegation: Reps. Nan Hayworth, Michael Grimm and Bob Turner.
“Interesting that Steve LaBate is getting so much institutional support,” the reader wrote. “Last election Israel handily beat Sean Hannity protege John Gomez.”
Actually, Labate tried running in 2010, too, but ended up withdrawing from the race to make room for Gomez. Now, apparently, he wants to take another shot at Israel, whose profile has risen considerably since then, and this time around he has institutional support.
Labate had about $50,000 on hand at the end of December, 2001 and $3,000 worth of debt. Israel had $587,637 on hand and no debt, but his main focus has been on raising cash for the DCCC- a task at which he has excelled.
Source: Potential Fidler Opponent Will Spend $50K To Defeat Him
Feb 1st - 5:03 pm
Apparently, the anti-Lew Fidler ad that appeared today in a number of downstate Orthodox Jewish newspapers is just the tip of the iceberg for Nachman Caller, a wealthy real estate attorney who has been trying to break into politics for some time now.
The ad, first reported this morning by City&State blogger Chris Bragg, doesn’t mention the Democratic NYC Councilman by name. But it does urge Orthodox Jewish voters to repeat the “Kiddush Hashem” (sanctification of G-d’s name) of electing someone like Republican Rep. Bob Turner who shares “Torah values” and opposes “same-gender marriage.”
What Caller is essentially saying here is that it’s a miztvah to reject a fellow Jew who “tramples” on conservative Orthodox beliefs, and that G-d cares who represents Jews in government. I’ll leave it to you to decide if you’re on board with that one.
A source who spoke to Caller said there’s more where this came from. He’s apparently willing to spend some $50,000 of his own money to defeat Fidler and help his GOP opponent, David Storobin. That could entail buying as many as 10 newspaper ads between now and the March 20th special election for former Sen. Carl Kruger’s seat, or possibly spreading that amount between ads and mailers.
This source also said Caller will definitely be running for Senate himself if Fidler wins. He would be running in the so-called “Super-Jewish” district proposed by the Senate Republicans, assuming their redistricting plan withstands the Democrats’ court challenge.
According to this source, Fidler has a pretty good shot at winning the special election in the current 27th SD. But high percentage of Orthodox Jewish voters in the new district, as conceived by the GOP, would be an uphill battle for him.
Meanwhile, Hamodia, an influential Orthodox Jewish publication, printed a front-page opinion piece warning Fidler he’s treading on “thin ice” by throwing around words like “Nazi” and “white supremacist” in connection with the writings of his opponent, Storobin, whom the paper describes as a “regular shul-goer.”
Storobin’s campaign fought back today by releasing a photo montage of “family members who died fighting the Nazis in World War II and who were murdered by Soviet persecutors for being Jewish.”
Fidler’s campaign seemed to back away from the whole mess, saying through a spokeswoman: “With a long record of experience and results to run on, Councilman Fidler wants this campaign to be about what the community needs, not Mr. Storobin’s peculiar internet relationships.”
In other 27th SD news. A number of Russian-speaking residents of the district showed up at the LATFOR hearing in Brooklyn today to protest the GOP’s plan to carve it up. They held signs urging the Republicans not to split up the community and added their voices to the litany of people calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to veto the Senate and Assembly maps.
Rallying Behind Carlucci (Updated)
Feb 1st - 3:10 pm
Village of Suffern Mayor Dagan LaCorte sent an email last night to local Democratic leaders and elected officials announcing his early endorsement of freshman Sen. David Carlucci and denouncing reports that his re-election is opposed by some fellow party members due to his defection to the IDC – a move that could spark a primary challenge.
“The 2012 campaign is beginning in earnest and it’s important that we get out early behind our senator, David Carlucci,” wrote LaCorte, who said he was “disturbed” by reports of an anti-Carlucci push-poll received by Democrats in Rockland and Orange counties back in December.
“There is no doubt about David’s fundamental commitment to progressive values and it has shown in his work as a Senator,” LaCorte continued. “His decision to join the Independent Democratic Conference was a reflection of those values – transparency in government and high ethical standards.”
“As an IDC member, David has been an effective champion for us, working with Governor Cuomo to reform state government, expand civil rights and invest in public education and environmental protection. And, yes, he has worked with elected leaders on both sides of the aisle when it was in the best interest of our community. On a personal note, David has always been accessible to the citizens of the Village of Suffern. It has been an honor and privilege to work with him.”
It’s important to send a clear message to the Conservatives and Republicans, the public and, sadly, some Democrats in Albany, that Rockland Democrats are united behind David Carlucci. I’m endorsing David’s re-election TODAY; if you want to join me please respond to this e-mail or call me at 845-XXX-XXXX. Together, we can return a strong, independent Democrat to the State Senate to work with Governor Cuomo to keep the promise of New York for families and our community.”
That anonymous push-poll had questioned Carlucci’s progressive crendentials and slammed him for abandoning “the most influential African-American leader the State Senate has ever seen” (presumably that’s Minority Leader John Sampson?)
The call also suggested Clarkstown Councilwoman and Democratic National Committee member Stephanie Hausne was planning to primary Carlucci. That threat seems to have disappeared. But more recently, there has been speculation that Town of Ramapo Councilman Patrick Withers might challenge the former Clarkstown clerk.
The reader who forwarded me LaCorte’s email noted an element of political intrigue here. The Rockland County Democratic Party is chaired by Kristen Stavisky, whose husband, consultant Evan Stavisky is closely allied with the Senate Democrats. (Not only does his firm, The Parkside Group, do a lot of work for the DSCC, but his mother is Queens Democratic Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky).
” Some locals thinks she’s in cahoots with the Senate Dems to screw David even though locals love him,” the reader wrote. “So the local elected Dems want to be sure that everyone understands a primary is not viable. I do not think that Kristen Stavisky is trying to take David out but the rumor mill is full tilt, which she should shut down because it’s bad for her.”
Actually, this whole scheme doesn’t make any sense because the Senate Dems are walking a fine line with the IDC. If the outcome of the re-match for control of the chamber this fall is very close, the four independent Democrats could be in a position to be kingmakers. Both the Republicans, who have gone out of their way to help the IDC, and the Democratic conference are hopeful the IDC will either remain independent but open to supporting a GOP leader or return to the fold, respectively.
UPDATE: Another twist…I’m reminded that Parkside ran – “soup to nuts” – Carlucci’s campaign (in his pre-defection days). Now-Sen. Mike Gianaris, who ran virtually uncontested in 2010, was heavily involved in that race, too. So Carlucci’s decision to abandon the Democrats had an extra sting to it for the DSCC chairman. Carlucci’s victory was one of just two Republican-to-Democrat wins in a big GOP year. The other was Sen. Tony Avella’s defeat of Ex-Sen. Fank Padavan, and Parkside ran that one, too.
Also, the Republicans are supposedly interested in challenging Carlucci and the other IDCers. But again, given the IDC’s potential kingmaker role after the November elections makes it difficult for me to believe a well-funded opponent will be supported by the GOP powers that be.
Mike Long On Wendy Long (Updated)
Jan 31st - 1:22 pm
State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long stopped by the CapTon studios on his way home to NYC after a very successful 50th anniversary CPPAC in Colonie this weekend to chat a bit about the three would-be Republican challengers to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand who interviewed with his executive committee mebers yesterday.
The trio: Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who is the only formally announced candidate in the race at the moment; Internet entrepreneur Marc Cenedella, who ran into a bit of an Internet snafu last week; and attorney Wendy Long (no relation to the chairman), whose potential candidacy wasn’t even on the radar until this weekend.
I asked Long which of the candidate had most impressed him. He half-jokingly accused me of asking an “unfair” question, but then said:
“I have to admit that Wendy Long was more decisive on issues, more clear-cut. She understands the Constitution very clearly.”
“She clerked for (US Supreme Court Justice) Clarence Thompson. She worked in the United States Senate for Senator (Robert) Humphreys and Senator (William) Armstrong, so she has a real grasp of the issues….She may not make the run, but if she does make the run, I think she does well. If she doesn’t make the run, the other two certainly would be in contention.”
Wendy Long serves as counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network. She’s perhaps best known, to those who are familiar with her work, for leading the right’s opposition to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor back in 2009 when the Bronx native was tapped by President Obama to be the first Latina to sit on the nation’s highest court.
According to Chairman Long, she’s still “talking to people” about whether she could make a viable challenge to Gillibrand. Fundraising is a big concern.
Gillibrand had $7.1 million on hand as of the end of September (her fourth quarter report is due out any day now). UPDATE: A Gillibrand campaign source tells The Capital’s Reid Pillifant the senator raised $1.8 million during the last three months of 2011 and now has just over $8 million on hand.
Maragos has said he’ll spend up to $5 million of his own money on his campaign. Cenedella reportedly is willing to at least match that, and I’ve heard the number $15 million tossed around, which helps explain why the Gillibrand people are so intend on trying to kill his candidacy – or, at the very least, maim it – before it gets off the ground.
Mike Long told me he likes the idea of challenging a woman with another woman. It certainly does level the playing field a bit. He also didn’t rule out the possibility that the Conservative Party might go its own way in selecting a candidate, which would be good for Gillibrand if the GOP goes in a different direction, since it would split the vote on the right.
The chairman also left the door open to a move similar to the one he pulled in the 2010 governor’s race, when his party helds its convention early and nominated former Rep. Rick Lazio to try to force the GOP to do the same. (As you’ll recall, state GOP Chairman Ed Cox wooed Democrat-turned-Republican Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy into the race, but he didn’t get onto the ballot at the convention. Lazio ended up losing the primary to Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino).
Lazio: Once-Married Romney Offers ‘Better Profile’ For GOP Than Thrice-Married Newt
Jan 30th - 1:01 pm
Prominent Mitt Romney-supporting New York Republicans are engaged in some full-throated Newt Gingrich bashing today, labeling the former House speaker as everything from “dangerous” and a “little psycho” (former Staten Island BP Guy Molinari) to a “disaster” (former US Sen. Alfonse D’Amato).
This wave of criticism was actually kicked off by former Rep. Rick Lazio when he spoke at the state Conservative Party’s annual political action conference in Colonie last night.
Lazio, a longtime Romney supporter (he even raised cash for the former Massachusetts governor in 2008 when almost every other NY Republican backed hometown favorite Rudy Giuliani), raised a few eyebrows by going right for the Gingrich jugular – at least where some family-values conservatives are concerned – and bringing up his tumultuous personal life.
“I’m saying I think if you compare Mitt Romney, who married his high-school sweetheart – they have an incredibly stable marriage – he’s a strong family man, I think he’s a great role model. That’s a better profile for Republicans to have,” Lazio said.
“…Nobody is absolutely perfect. The American people are not looking for perfection. They’re looking for good judgement, though, and they’re looking for consistent judgement, and I think that’s what we’re speaking about right now.”
Lazio stressed that Romney’s management experience in the private sector – something that has become a bit of a sore topic in some GOP circles – is another plus, particularly at a time of national economic instability.
The former congressman said he has exchanged several emails with Gingrich. When I asked him about that later, he said the former speaker has sought his input on housing issues – a topic on which Lazio has some expertise, thanks to his position as chair of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
Lazio was asked about Gingrich vs. Romney by a CPPAC participant. Ironically, Lazio’s 2010 GOP primary foe, Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, was seated in the front row throughout the event.
Paladino is a staunch supporter of Gingrch. As we were watching this mini melodrama play out last night, Nick Reisman remarked to me that the current Romney vs. Gingrich battle is almost like a do-over of Lazio vs. Paladino in 2010.
As you’ll recall, Paladino came under fire for his unconventional personal life, too. Lazio, on the other hand, met his first – and only – wife, Patricia, while he was studying at American University School of Law in Washington. (She was the sister of a fellow student and was working at George Washington University Hospital while pursuing a nursing degree). The couple has two grown daughters.
Like Romney, Lazio was the steady candidate the GOP rank-and-file was trying hard to fall in love with, while Paladino, like Gingrich, was the firey outsider often apt to put his foot in his mouth. Of course, these are some extremely broad comparisons, and we’re certainly not saying this is an apples-to-apples situation. It’s interesting, nevertheless.
Lorigo: Local Conservative Nod For Grisanti Won’t Come Easy
Jan 30th - 11:43 am
One of the byproducts of the Senate GOP’s plan to gerrymander the district of their most vulnerable member, Sen. Mark Grisanti, so it’s entirely within the boundaries of Erie County is that the Conservative Party endorsement will be controlled by local officials and not state Chairman Mike Long.
Theorectically, that’s helpful to Grisanti, who very much needs the Conservative line, but lost his chance of landing it – in Long’s eyes, anyway – when he crossed over to vote “yes” on same-sex marriage with the Democrats.
Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo told me and Nick Reisman last last night’s CPPAC that he hasn’t locked the door against Grisanti the way Long did for teh Democrat-turned-Republican senator and his three GOP colleagues who heeded Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call to provide the deciding votes for gay marriage.
On the other hand, Lorigo said, Grisanti has to come through an executive board of 35 people and “convince a number of those people that he’s deserving at this point in time.” The local Conservatives had “high hopes” for Grisanti, the chairman said, and they weren’t thrilled that he had indicated he would vote “no” on marriage and then changed his mind.
“That vote hurts Mark Gristanti in terms of getting a conservative endorsement,” Lorigo told us. “….I gave him a list and said, ‘Mark, if you want to come back and try to seek our endorsement, you have to champion conservative values, and that’s his task, whether or not he can champion conservative values enough to be able to effectively ask for that endorsement.”
“…I’m talking about all values, social values and economic values. If he can come back and say that, ‘Look, I’ve done this in terms of the pro-life movement.’ Some of the things that were discussed here about the issues of pro-life or Second Amendment, as well as the economic issues. If he can come to us and have become a champion of some of those issues, he might be able to earn the endorsement. But it’s not going to be easy.”
Ex-Indy Activist Urges Ethics Investigation Of Grimm (Updated)
Jan 30th - 8:17 am
FORMER Independence Party activist Frank Morano (a fellow early riser) forwarded a complaint he sent to the leaders of the house Ethics Committee urging an investigation into what he called Rep. Michael Grimm’s “pattern of unethical behavior.”
UPDATE: Morano reminds me he’s no longer a member of any party. I forgot that he had a falling out with state Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay in the summer 2010 and departed the fold.
Topping Morano’s list of concerns about the Staten Island Republican are allegations in this weekend’s NYT that the congressman engaged in illegal fundraising activities with the assistance of a top aide to Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto.
The aide, Israeli citizen Ofer Biton, is under investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn over accusations that he embezzled millions of dollars from the rabbi’s congregation.
Grimm has strongly rejected the NYT report, calling it “completely false,” “disappointing,” and full of “unsubstantiated accusations.”
Grimm’s fundraising is not all that bothers Morano.
He also accused the congressman of misusing official resources, noting he closed his district office and gave staffers off on Black Friday, which is not a federal holiday, and citing anecdotal reports of Grimm’s use of government staffers to do his political work and personal errands.
Morano offered no proof of those allegations, and much of what he’s asking the committee to look into seems pretty thin.
But he did back up suggestions that Grimm is violating a prohibition on giving gifts to lobbyists by citing a Staten Island Advance story about the congressman giving a Cartier watch to former Staten Island BP Guy Molinari, a retired lobbyist who is closely related to two currently registered lobbyists.
Molinari and Grimm are very close, and the former BP served as the congressman’s chief political strategist during his successful 2010 campaign.
“A Cartier watch could be valued anywhere between $5,000 and $25,000,” Morano wrote. “How did Grimm have the means to procure this watch when he didn’t have a job for a year before the election? This question merits new examination in light of all the cash Grimm is alleged to have been soliciting and receiving.”
“I’m not trying to nitpick. I understand that Molinari and Grimm are particularly close personally and politically and they have a pre-existing relationship, but many of the lobbyists that are prohibited from giving gifts to House members are no doubt close to them as well.”
After Democrat Mark Murphy announced his campaign to challenge Grimm this fall, Morano reached out to Republican-turned-Democrat John Gangemi, a former at-large NYC councilman and attorney who hails from the Brooklyn portion of the largely Staten Island district, and asked him to consider a run in NY-13, too.
A New Challenger To Gillibrand?
Jan 29th - 1:54 pm
There’s a buzz at the state Conservative Party’s annual political action conference about the emergence of a potential new challenger to New York’s junior US senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.
The name I’ve been hearing is Wendy Long, (no relation to state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long), a Manhattan attorney who serves as counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network.
In that position, she led the right’s opposition to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor back in 2009 when the Bronx native was tapped by President Obama to be the first Latina to sit on the nation’s highest court.
According to a Republican source, Long has been talking quietly to several people about possibly taking on Gillibrand this fall.
Running a woman against another woman is something political leaders like to do. It would dilute Gillibrand’s whole working mother/more-women-in-politics approach – something she has been increasingly focused on over the past year with the creation of her Off the Sidelines campaign.
I’m told Long might show up here in Colonie to talk to CPPAC attendees.
Already here: Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who is so far the only Republican who has formally announced a campaign against Gillibrand; and Marc Cenedella, the Internet entrepreneur who is also mulling a challenge to Gillibrand and has sustained some significant attacks from her camp in recent weeks.
Hedging In NY-22
Jan 27th - 1:36 pm
Ever since Rep. Maurice Hinchey’s announcement last week that he will not seek re-election this fall, the conventional wisdom has been that his district, NY-22, will likely be obliterated when LATFOR turns its attention to redrawing the House lines.
Hinchey’s district, which stretches from the Hudson Valley through the Southern Tier to Ithaca, was gerrymandered specifically to protect a Democrat. Nevertheless, Hinchey had a tough go of it in 2010 when the Republicans pretty much threw everything they had at him. He was re-elected, but emerged from the fight with his GOP challenger George Phillips, who was making his second attempt to unseat the cognressman, fairly bruised. (Admittedly, some of those wounds were self-inflicted).
Before Hinchey’s retirement announcement, it looked like two freshmen Central New York Republicans – Ann Marie Buerkle and Richard Hanna – would likely end up in a primary battle when state lawmakers finished redrawing the House lines and removing two seats – a move made necessary by New York’s slow population growth as compared to other states.
But Hinchey’s departure has changed the calculus. LATFOR Co-Chairs Jack McEneny and Mike Nozzolio both told me on CapTon last night that they will immediately be returning to work on the House lines after releasing the Senate and Assembly lines last week, and should have a finished product sometime in mid-February.
In the meantime, the two Republicans who had already announced their intention to challenge Hinchey – Phillips and Tom Engel, a NYC attorney and part-time Ulster County resident – are in limbo until LATFOR figures out its next move.
In recognition of that, Engel sent out this email message last night to some 20,000 Republican and Conservative activists. It is notably NOT a fundraising appeal, but rather a just-in-case organizing tool so Engel can, as he puts it, “be ready to take on whomever and whatever the Democrats have to throw at us.”
“At this point…it is not appropriate, I feel, to ask for additional investment in my campaign – at least until we know for certain what form the district will take,” wrote Engel, who said he has already “inevsted six figures of my own money” into the campaign.
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