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Kolb Differs With Constitutional Reformers On Redistricting Amendment
Mar 14th - 12:15 pm
ICYMI: Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb on CapTon last night called the redistricting constitutional amendment a “darn good start,” and adopted a something-is-better-than-noting attitude, even as his fellow reformers have condemned the measure and are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reject it.
“I’m certainly open-minded to making more changes or to strengthen that amendment,” Kolb told me. “…Certainly, I guess I would say is a half a cake is better than a full cake – if you can’t get the full cake.”
“As you know, Liz, all legislation could be made better. Attempts to do things perfectly – it’s like making sausage, it’s not very pretty, but in the end you get a product. I’m always making it the best product as possible, but, as you know when you’re dealing with compromise and consensus, you don’t always have the ability to pull that off.”
Kolb’s point of view is the polar opposite of Democratic activist Bill Samuels, with whom the minority leader and my father, Prof. Gerald Benjamin, created EffectiveNY.org, – a website advocating for constitutional reform on a whole host of issues – including redistricting.
Samuels sent out an email last night deeming the constitutional compromise the governor appears to have struck with the Legislature a “bad joke,” adding:
“Using outdated Constitutional language and mathematical formulas from 1894 to justify adding a State Senate smacks of Skelos-Cuomo(?)-Silver “three men in a room” type of deal that have long hobbled reform in Albany.”
“At Effective NY, we have posted the three tortured and contorted mathematical methods from the 1894 Constitutional language that the leaders in Albany are using to avoid creating a 21st Century solution to this once every decade redistricting conundrum. It is a weird, confusing and disingenuous solution to the issue.”
“It is a breach of faith on behalf of elected officials in Albany and if the Governor is serious about reform, has one choice-veto the deal. Allowing the deal to pass continues to put the power to draw future legislative districts in the hands of self-interested legislators instead of in the hands of a truly independent process. Anything less than a veto and the Governor loses claim to being a reformer of the dysfunctional Albany process.”
That sentiment was echoed by the NYT editorial page this morning, which noted the constitutional amendment calls for a 10-member commission to draw the lines – a construction that “almost ensured gridlock” – doesn’t address deviation, makes no mention of a 2010 law requiring prisoners be counted at their homes and not where they’re incarcerated and ultimately kicks the whole mess back into the hands of the Legislature.
The Senate Democrats have also been beating the drum on this one, and are starting to suggest (well, at least Sen. Liz Krueger is) they will hold Cuomo personally responsible if he breaks his veto pledge. Apparently, however, their minority conference colleagues in the Assembly aren’t on board.
This Could Be Awkward…
Mar 13th - 3:10 pm
A reader sent this invitation to an upcoming fundraiser being held for Rep. Bob Turner at the home of former Manhattan GOP Chairwoman/National GOP Committeewoman Jennifer Saul Rich.
The event is scheduled for Thursday, March 29. Prices range from $1,000 a ticket to a commitment to raise $10,000.
I wrote that headline because this event was clearly put together prior to the congressman’s decision to throw his hat into the ring against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, who is not at all happy about Turner’s latest political endeavor, is a member of the host committee. So is state GOP Chairman Ed Cox, who says he’s remaining neutral in what’s shaping up to be a multiple-candidate primary, is also on the committee.
The rest of the committee is made up of a number of usual NYS GOP suspects, including businessman Randy Altschuler, who is making a second attempt at unseating Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop in Long Island’s NY-1 this fall. (He’s also facing a primary challenge for the second election cycle in a row from George Demos).
Also on the committee is former Giuliani administration attorney Juan Reyes, who was the preferred candidate of the Queens GOP to run for ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s seat in the 2011 NY-9 special election. Eventually, the GOP and Conservatives settled on Turner, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Congressman Bob Turner (NY-09) – Thursday 3-29 Home of Jennifer Saul Rich
2010 Gillibrand Challenger Backs Turner
Mar 13th - 2:46 pm
Economist David Malpass, one of three Republicans who challenged US Senate Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010, has endorsed Rep. Bob Turner to take on the Democratic junior senator this fall through his political action committee, GrowPac.
“I’m pleased to see that Congressman Bob Turner has announced he’s running for the United States Senate against Kirstin Gillibrand,” Malpass said in a statement. “GrowPac supported Bob to victory during his NY-9 special election last year, and we are very pleased to endorse Bob Turner for the United States Senate.”
“Senator Gillibrand has worked for Washington’s interests even as New York has suffered from high unemployment and taxes and the sense that government is not serving the people effectively. New York deserves a Senator who brings clear principles on better government and who can represent New York’s interests, not Washington’s. I believe that’s Bob Turner.”
Malpass finished second to former Rep. Joe DioGuardi in the three-way GOP primary two years ago. He and Bruce Blakeman were placed on the ballot at the GOP convention, but DioGuardi, who had been endorsed by the Conservative Party, did not. DioGuardi subsequently petitioned his way onto the ballot and won the primary, but then went on to lose to Gillibrand in the general election.
This sort of mishegoss is exactly what the GOP county chairs pushing for Turner as a consensus candidate are hoping to avoid. So far, that doesn’t look likely. But there’s a lot of time between now and Friday, politically speaking.
Conflicted In GOPville (Updated)
Mar 13th - 1:47 pm
Rep. Bob turner’s announcement that he’s going to add his name to the list of Republicans hoping to take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand instead of running for re-election to the House has left a few well-known GOP operatives in an uncomfortable position.
E. O’Brien Murray, who worked with former state GOP legend/Chairman Bill Powers and former Gov. George Pataki, was credited with master-minding Turner’s win in the long-shot special election in former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Democrat-dominated Queens/Brooklyn district that turned him into a national Republican rockstar overnight.
Bill O’Reilly, a fixture in NY GOP politics who is executive vice president of Nicholas & Lence Communications, handled media for Turner’s congressional campaign.
Now both consultants are working for Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin, who, until Turner’s big announcement today, was the latest arrival to the GOP we-want-to-beat Gillibrand party. They got on board with Carvin after their first candidate, TheLadders.com founder Marc Cenedella, was tanked by a racy blog he authored that featured some anti-woman posts.
I reached Murray, who goes by O.B., not long after Turner’s statement got blasted out to the NY media world. He said he had not yet made a decision about what he’ll be doing in this race, but made it clear he won’t be sticking around if Carvin decides to try to battle it out in a primary. UPDATE: To be clear, O.B. says he will not choose one candidate over the other, but rather would opt to “take a vacation” while this race plays out.
Carvin so far has just one county endorsement – Westchester – which doesn’t bring him anywhere close to the 25 percent weighted convention vote necessary to get onto the ballot.
He could try to petition his way onto the ballot – that worked for former Rep. Joe DioGuardi, who didn’t get onto the ballot at the convention and then managed to win a there-way GOP primary. But petition-gathering is time consuming and expensive, and the shortened political calendar doesn’t allow much time to get an operation off the ground.
Carvin has said he’s willing to spend $1 million on his campaign, which would theoretically be enough to fund a petition drive – and then some. But why he would want to fight what seems to be a losing battle is beyond me.
As for O’Reilly, he hasn’t made any decisions yet, either. But due to his obvious conflict here, Jessica Proud, who recently returned to NLC from Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s press shop, has taken over spokeswoman duty for Turner.
State Conservative Chair: Turner’s Making A Mistake
Mar 13th - 1:20 pm
State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long was not particularly happy when he answered the phone this afternoon shortly after news broke that Rep. Bob Turner would be challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand rather than seeking re-election to the House this fall.
“I’ve had better days,” Long told me when I asked how he was doing.
The chairman already has a clear favorite among the Republicans vying for the right to face off against Gillibrand in the November general election, and it’s attorney Wendy Long. (She and the chairman aren’t related).
Wendy Long has been steadily gathering support among the Conservative county chairs, and it’s fairly clear that she’s likely to get their nominating when they gather for their convention in Manhattan on March 19 – three days after the Republicans hold their convention in Rochester.
Chairman Long said he spoke to Turner last night on the phone. The congressman did not attend the state Conservative Party’s annual Albany fundraiser at the LOB last night, although Wendy Long and another would-be GOP Gillibrand challenger, Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin, were there. Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who has been running for about a year now and has sufficient county support to get onto the ballot on Friday (assuming all the committee pledges he has received hold), did not attend, either.
Mike Long said he’s planning to sit down with Turner this afternoon. He’s feeling a little chagrined, noting that he’s the one who “brought Bob Turner to this dance for Congress.”
Remember: Turner ran with Conservative Party support against ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner in 2010 and lost, though he did garner about 40 percent of the vote. He ran a very conservative campaign, hitting Weiner hard on a hot issue at the time: The so-called Ground Zero mosque, which was major talking point for the Conservative Party, too.
“He’s a neighbor, a good guy and a good friend,” Mike Long said of Turner.
“But I really think he’s coming to the dance too late. Wendy Long has really garnered a lot of enthusiasm within the conservative ranks. My leaders see her as a very strong party builder and a movement builder. I couldn’t turn it around if I wanted to turn it around…I’m going to talk to him about this, I’m not quite sure he’s making the right decision. But it’s his decision to make.”
I asked Mike Long if he thought that we were headed toward a redux of 2004, when the Republican Party went with then Assemblyman Howard Mills to challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Conservatives backed a n eye doctor named Marilyn O’Grady. Schumer won in a landslide with an historic 71 percent of the vote.
“That’s not what I want,” the chairman replied. “I believe that Wendy Long will win the Republican primary. I spoke to (state GOP Chairman) Ed Cox today. I didn’t get any indication that he’s going to try to block her from getting 25 percent (at the convention). I believe she already has 25 percent, and if she holds it then it looks like it’s going to be a three-way primary, or they could engineer it to make it a tw-way between Turner and her.”
I reached Cox this afternoon, and he declined to comment on the record about Turner’s candidacy. The GOP chairman has repeatedly said, however, that primaries are good for the party because they generate excitement. He said that in 2010, too, and the three-way GOP battle to take on Gillibrand, which was eventually won by former Rep. Joe DioGuardi, didn’t help the Republicans defeat Gillibrand, who sailed to her first statewide victory in the general election.
One thing’s for sure: It won’t be a boring convention, which makes our drive out to Rochester worthwhile.
So far, none of the three already-announced candidates against Gillibrand has indicated a willingness to bow out to make way for Turner. The congressman called them all last night to give them a heads-up about his plan, according to a source familiar with his actions. Here’s Wendy Long’s statement:
“We welcome Bob to the race and look forward to seeing him and the rest of the guys in Rochester.”
Krueger: I’ll Blame The Gov For Redistricting Failure
Mar 13th - 8:33 am
ICYMI: Sen. Liz Krueger said last night that she would blame Gov. Andrew Cuomo for “renegging on his promise” if he signs off on the tweaked Senate and Assembly redistricting maps and accompanying constitutional amendment to change the line-drawing process.
Here’s the CapTon exchange between Krueger, a reform-minded Upper East Side Democrat, and me:
LB: “Let’s assume he does actually sign, what will you guys do?”
LK: “We will go into court and challenge that it violates the Constitution and voter rights.”
LB: “Will you accuse him of renegging on his promise?
LK: “Yes. I believe that if the governor does not veto these lines as I have seen them, then he will be renegging on his promise.”
“And now I have seen the language for the constitutional amendment, and it also does not pass the smell test in any way, shape or form.”
Krueger is the first to go quite this far, I believe. The Senate Democrats have so far been reluctant to say what they might do if Cuomo doesn’t stick to his pledge to veto any hyper-partisan, non-independent and overly political lines.
They’ve so far stuck to the script of saying that they believe the governor is a man of his word, and thus will wield his veto pen on the LATFOR lines.
The Dems continue to oppose the slightly tweaked version that came out yesterday (actually, the maps did; the block-by-block bill was released shortly before midnight on Sunday), even though Cuomo himself said the changes represent “progress.”
Cuomo did say that the constitutional amendment proposed by the Senate and Assembly majorities didn’t go far enough.
“(S)o to make the entire arrangement work, you need a statute that would handle the situation in case they don’t vote a second time for the constitutional amendment because there’s not a lot of trust out there, as you can imagine,” Cuomo said yesterday during at Talk 1300 AM interview with Fred Dicker.
“And it also has to address issues that the constitutional amendment poses – what happens if this structure doesn’t work and it goes back to the Legislature?”
Two goo-goo groups – Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters – have given it their seal of approval, while two others – NYPIRG and Common Cause – gave it a thumbs down.
Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, an outspoken advocate of independent redistricting reform, also opposes the amendment, saying: “It’s the most devious Legislature in America. We tried our best, and the ghouls won.”
If the Democrats get too far out on a limb here, it could backfire on them as they seek to take back the majority this fall.
Then again, perhaps they don’t have all that much to lose, since if Cuomo signs onto the Senate GOP’s redistricting proposal, he’s essentially choosing sides in that battle, since the maps dramatically improve the Republicans’ chances of retaining control.
Brooklyn GOP Chair Pushes Turner For Senate
Mar 12th - 5:58 pm
With the GOP nominating convention in Rochester just four days away, Brooklyn Republican Chairman Craig Eaton sent a letter today to his fellow county chairs, imploring them to avoid a repeat of the in-fighting in 2010 that handed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand her first statewide win and unite behind Rep. Bob Turner to challenge the Democratic junior senator.
Eaton’s email was marked “urgent and confidential,” and he explicitly requested that recipients not forward it. Of course, it subsequently shot around the Internet like wildfire – just as he must have expected it would.
Eaton said each of the three declared Republican US Senate candidates – Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, attorney Wendy Long and Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin – has “advantages and disadvantages,” but added:
“I am deeply concerned, though, that a contentious Republican Primary, and the possibility of the Republicans and Conservatives selecting different candidates to represent them, will spoil our chances of winning this senate seat. We are looking at a possible repeat of 2010 the way this is playing out.”
“There is an alternative. But there is little time. I ask you to consider the following immediately: Republican-Conservative Rep. Bob Turner sprang onto the national scene last year. He captured the nation’s imagination by winning what was considered an impossible race in the middle of New York City – by seven points – in a district that hasn’t elected a Republican congressman since 1923!”
“And he did it by convincing Republicans, Democrats and independents to vote for him while runnning unapologetically against the Obama Agenda that Senator Gillibrand has furthered every step of the way. Turner has national and international name ID. The entire country was riveted to his race less than a year ago. Bob Turner’s campaign became a referendum on President Obama – and we won! Bob, a highly successful television executive, was given a standing ovation in the halls of Congress when he was sworn in.”
“The Democrats are now killing Bob Turner’s congressional district. They are eviscerating it. They do not want Turner to remain a public symbol for the major loss President Obama suffered in our state last year. But we can do something about that by running him for U.S. Senate.”
The Turner-for-Senate trial balloon was first floated back in December. Over the weekend, the push intensified, with various county chairs anonymously echoing the sentiment Eaton has stated here.
Turner said through his advisor, E. O’Brien Murray, who’s also working for Carvin (oh, what a tangled political web we weave), that he’s flattered to be discussed as a potential Gillibrand challenger, but he wanted to wait and see what his district lines look like before making a final decision.
Well, at the rate things are going, he’ll find that out right just 24 hours before the Republicans are scheduled to gather in Rochester, because the special master is scheduled to release her tweaked plan that day and the Legislature doesn’t appear likely to make a deal before then.
However, given Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s comments this morning about the special master’s first proposal, I guess anything’s possible.
Pressuring Wendy Long
Mar 12th - 11:14 am
With the Rochester GOP convention at which rank-and-file party members will select an opponent – or opponents – to face off against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand looming, opponents of attorney Wendy Long are trying to nip her growing support in the bud.
Long is already the preferred candidate of the state Conservative Party, whose members will gather in NYC on March 19 (three days after the GOP confab). She has been slowing pick up endorsements from GOP county leaders too, including Tioga County’s Don Leonard and Montgomery County’s Joe Emanuele this past weekend.
By my calculation, Long currently has the support of 9.30 percent of the weighted county vote (with the usual cavet of all the committee members following their respective chairs’ lead).
So far, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos is the only would-be Gillibrand challenger who has passed the 25 percent threshold to get onto the ballot. Just this morning, Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin got his first endorsement from his home county organization (Westchester), bringing his tally to 5.28 percent.
Over the weekend, news broke (here on SoP) that county leaders were growing worried about a GOP primary and the possibility that the Conservatives would end up with a different candidate than the Republicans. The possibility of trying to get Long, Carvin and Maragos to step aide to clear the way for a consensus candidate, potentially Rep. Bob Turner, has been discussed, although no action had been taken as of yesterday afternoon.
In the meantime, opponents of Long are starting to circulate some of their oppo research on her.
City&State wrote this morning about her ties to a Dartmouth College newspaper, The Dartmouth Review, that routinely courted controversy by mocking black, gay, Jewish and female students, which could make things difficult for her in the general election if she were to end up the GOP and/or Conservative nominee.
Also this morning, a reader forwarded this clip that dates back to 2009 when President Obama tapped Bronx native Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Latina member of the US Supreme Court. At the time, Long, who was serving as counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, said Sotomayor is “definitely an extremist” (at about the 49-second mark in the video below). But that was hardly the extent of her criticism, she also called Sotomayor a “liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written.”
Republicans, particularly Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, have worked hard to woo Latino voters in recent years, and some worry that a single negative ad run against Long featuring comments like these would tank her – and fellow GOP candidates – in the general election.
Hanna Not Worried About Primary Challenge From Buerkle (Updated)
Mar 12th - 9:01 am
Rep. Richard Hanna this weekend insisted he’s not at all concerned about a potential primary challenge from his fellow GOP freshman, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, whose allies say she hasn’t ruled out running in a different district if her own lines aren’t favorable for a re-election bid after redistricting is complete.
UPDATE: To be clear, Buerkle herself hasn’t said one way or another if she’ll primary a colleague. Onondaga County GOP Chair Tom Dadey floated the idea and she hasn’t ruled it either in or out.
The Senate and Assembly majorities, which have so far failed to come up with a congressional redistricting deal, proposed changes to Buerkle’s Central New York district that she says are tailor made to allow a liberal Democrat like her once-and-future nemesis, ex-Rep. Dan Maffei, to return to the House.
The special master’s first map was kinder to Buerkle, which is why the Senate Republicans initially seemed content to leave it well enough alone. But then, curiously, they filed comments on US Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann’s plan, while the Assembly Democrats declined to do so.
Hanna, who was clearly bemused and a bit frustrated by the redistricting process, said yesterday he needs to “wait and see what the lines are,” adding:
“Certainly, the way the law is written, a person can move around and they can run in any district they like. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
“I have no idea. I’ve seen, since this process started months back, I think I’ve seen maybe a dozen different maps. Saw two more last week. So, I’m just going to wait.
I’m not worried anyway. It’s not my nature. We’re going to run. I’ve got a record that I’m very happy to get out and talk about. You know, we’ll just have to see what it is.”
“It’s not about Ann Marie Buerkle; it’s not about me. It’s just people want good representation and somebody whose views and attitudes reflect those of their community and they have to bring that to Washington with them.”
“So, hopefully that’s the person who will win the majority of the vote when the time comes. I know Ann Marie, I like Ann Marie…I have no idea what the outcome will be.”
Buerkle, who has the solid support of the state Conservative Party, proudly admits she’s the most conservative member of the NY delegation – “extreme,” if you happen to agree with the Maffeis of the world.
Hanna is certainly more of a moderate, or, at the very least, a pragmatist.
MacKay: McDonald Will Be A Senator For A ‘Very, Very Long Time’
Mar 12th - 8:41 am
ICYMI: State Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay was in Saratoga County this weekend to publicly declare his early endorsement of Sen. Roy McDonald, who has been losing support among local Republicans and Conservatives of late and may face a primary challenge from Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin.
It’s possible this early endorsement isn’t actually so early if the Senate and Assembly get their respective acts together and move the regularly scheduled Sept. 11 state primaries up to coincide with the court-ordered June 26 US Senate and congressional primaries – or relocate all the primaries to some mutually agreed-upon date in July or August.
That hasn’t happened yet, though, despite multiple calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to flex some muscle and make it so.
We also still don’t know if McDonald will actually have to duke it out for Rows B and C anyway, since McLaughlin has yet to formally announce his candidacy.
MacKay, a close ally of Cuomo, has already provided an “early” endorsement to another of McDonald’s GOP colleagues who crossed the aisle to vote “yes” on the governor’s gay marriage bill and is now paying the price for it on the right: Sen. Mark Grisanti, who lost the Erie County Conservative Party nod to Democrat (yeah, well, it’s WNY politics, remember) Chuck Swanick.
Here’s what MacKay had to say about McDonald; he was quite effusive in his praise of the former Wilton town supervisor:
“We’ve always endorsed Senator McDonald. The question would be: Why did we endorse Senator McDonald early?”
“I think because he’s one of the most independent men out there, certainly the most independent public official, I feel, in this area. I think he’s fantastic. He’s taken some very tough stances on some tough votes, and he’s hung in there…So we’re here earlier than we’ve ever done.”
“…In politics, if there’s one thing I’ve learned is, if you’re not happy with the way things are going, wait. In ten minutes, everything could be completely different. Let’s see how everything plays out.”
“I think as far as other people’s endorsements, we certainly can’t speak to that, but the senator has a tremendous amount of support…I think he’s going to be a senator for a very, very long time. I think people will back him more and more as we go.
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