US Sen. Chuck Schumer endorsed “worker bee” NYC Councilman Lew Fidler for ex-Sen. Carl Kruger’s seat.

Filder said he “never, ever, ever did, or would have, called David Storobin a neo-Nazi.”

Sen. Velmanette Montgomery says the Senate GOP redidstricting plan that drew her into a potential primary with Sen. Eric Adams “borders on harassment.”

A coalition of 118 groups sent a letter to Cuomo in support of his call for campaign finance reform, urging the governor to push for lower contribution limits and better enforcement of campaign laws.

Sen. Liz Krueger’s office reminds us that she has legislation to do away with so-called “ghost” campaign committees.

Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer had a role in the Komen/Planned Parenthood mess.

There’s still some uncertainty about the relationship between Komen and Planned Parenthood going forward.

The timing of the Komen foundation’s pink handgun campaign is a little unfortunate.

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum visited a sweater vest factory. No word on whether he expanded his existing collection.

Students from an East Harlem charter school share their thoughts on cyberbullying after a visit from Sen. Jeff Klein, who’s promoting a NY Cyberbullying Census.

Roseanne Barr is seeking the Green Party nomination for president.

Cuomo reiterated his love for the North Country during a brief stop in Plattburgh, calling it “a special place on the planet.”

More oncracking, kidnapping, diluting, dividing and decoying.

A group of 33 American Muslim, Arab and South Asian civic groups want AG Eric Schneiderman to investigate how the NYPD investigates Muslim communities in NYC.

Adam Lisberg took advantage of a slow Friday to tour the Brooklyn Detention Complex. (What? Isn’t that how you would have chosen to spend a slow Friday?)

First Lady Michelle Obama had a push-up contest with Ellen.

Maloney is a New York City resident, but he and his partner, Randy Florke, have owned property in Sullivan County since the mid-1990s and Florke’s real estate business, The Rural Connection, is based there.

I spoke briefly to Maloney earlier today, and he confirmed that he had received encouragement to consider running following Hinchey’s announcement last month that he would not seek re-election this fall. Maloney then emailed the following statement:

“Hinchey’s retirement is a big loss to all of us who love the area. I’m flattered to be encouraged. Obviously, we need to know where the lines fall – but I’m very interested.”

This would not be Maloney’s first foray into realm of electoral politics. Back in 2006, he ran in the Democratic primary for state attorney general and finished third. (The winner of that race was Andrew Cuomo).

Maloney subsequently was hired by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, serving as first deputy secretary to the governor. He ended up playing a key role in the administration’s management of the Troopergate scandal, and then held the same position in Gov. David Paterson’s cabinet when the former LG was elevated to replace Spitzer after he was forced to resign following a prostitution scandal.

Maloney left the state payroll at the end of 2008 to join Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that hired Michael Garcia, the U.S. Attorney who brought down Spitzer.

Prior to his 2006 run, Maloney was an associate at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which is also home to former Gov. Mario Cuomo. Before that, he was a senior West Wing adviser to President Bill Clinton. According to Wikipedia, Maloney was the youngest person ever to serve as the President’s White House staff secretary, and was also the highest-ranking openly gay man ever to serve on the White House staff.

Here’s the trouble: If legislators don’t agree on a bill to move their own primary date to correspond with the one that US District Court Judge Gary Sharpe ordered for the federal races, then Assembly members and senators could theoretically challenge sitting House members and then, if that doesn’t work out, fall back to run for their own seats.

The reader came up with the following examples; feel free to weigh in if you think of any others:

1) CHAOS IN NORTHERN MANHATTAN?

Sen. Adriano Espaillat announces he will run for the new Latino seat in Upper Manhattan that is widely expected to be created in the next round of LATFOR maps. Local Democrats like Assemblyman Guillermo Linares and Mark Levine, who lost to Espaillat in the September 2010 primary for AG Eric Schneiderman’s old seat, would then scramble for Adriano’s Senate seat and start circulating petitions.

But Espaillat unexpectedly loses the congressional primary. Not wanting to be out of a job, he collects petitions to run for the Senate, files them on July 8, and runs on Sept. 11. Or, perhaps he doesn’t have to run in a primary at all because Linares, Levine and whoever else had entered the race for his seat drop their bids once he returns to the race.

2) MAYHEM IN NORTH BROOKLYN?

Sen. Martin Dilan announces he will challenge Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY-12) in the June primary. Democrats like his son, NYC Councilman Erik Dilan, and Jesus Gonzalez, (the WFP-backed candidate who lost a heated three-way battle for former Assemblyman Darryl Towns’ seat to Erik Dilan’s chief of staff, Rafael Espinal, in 2010), quickly scramble for Martin Dilan’s Senate seat and start circulating petitions.

But Dilan loses the congressional primary, so he then collects petitions to run for his Senate seat – unless he doesn’t have to run because his son and Espinal back off. Or maybe Erik Dilan gets the line, but then declines the designation of his petitions – and the petition’s committee on vacancies replaces Erik with his father.

3) TWO BITES AT THE APPLE IN QUEENS?

- Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman runs in a primary for the House seat currently occupied by Rep. Bob Turner, (assuming NY-9 still exists after redistricting and Turner doesn’t end up in a general election head-to-head with Rep. Joe Crowley or Rep. Gary Ackerman), loses and then goes back to run for his Assembly seat.

4) SECOND THOUGHTS IN THE HUDSON VALLEY?

- Sen. Greg Ball reconsiders his decision not to primary Rep. Nan Hayworth in NY-19 because he has little to lose, given his ability to run for his Senate seat if the House race doesn’t go his way.

Of course, this whole theory could just as easily apply to a congressional candidate running in a contested primary who loses and then decides to run for state Legislature. So, for example, one of the five Democrats now vying for the right to take on Hayworth in November could then run for the Senate in retiring Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer’s district, challeging the likely Democratic candidate, Assemblyman George Latimer, in the Sept. 11 primary.

Again, this is all completely speculative. The political calendar is in flux due to Sharpe’s decision. LATFOR hasn’t released the congressional lines yet. There might be some technicalities here that I’m overlooking. Perhaps one of the Jerrys – Skurnik? Goldfeder? – will set me straight.

But stranger things have happened. Not a bad deal for all these Albany incumbents who – other than special elections – usually need to give up their seats to run for Congress.

From the ad:

“The truth is what you don’t know can hurt you. There’s no transparency or accountability. It erodes decent jobs, harms our communities and diminishes services New Yorkers rely on.”

Not mentioned but suggested in the 30-second is the new, less-generous pension tier Cuomo inserted into the budget that would only apply to new public employees. Tier VI allows for the option of a 401(k)-style contribution.

Cuomo told an audience of county executives on Wednesday that the fight over pensions and teacher evaluations were the two most contentious and potentially bruising fights he’s facing this legislative session (the governor referred to it as the “Battle of Albany”).

Cuomo at the meeting said he wanted to enlist the county executives in the battle, style himself as a latter-day Uncle Sam.

Longtime Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer is retiring and businessman Bob Cohen, who came within striking distance of unseating her in 2010, is gearing up for another run.

The redrawn district would stretch from a Republican-friendly areas of east Yonkers, into Eastchester and up to Bedford. Republicans have long had their eye on the seat, which would give them some breathing room in the fight to keep control of the chamber.

But now The Town Report, a newspaper covering southern Westchester County, reports that Anthony Colavita, the Eastchester town supervisor and son of former state Republican Chairman Anthony J. Colavita, is mulling a run for the seat as well.

And Colavita doesn’t appear to be squeamish about running primaries against fellow Republicans.

The paper reports:

“… Colavita said that the fact that Cohen is already presenting himself as the party’s presumptive nominee does not automatically close the book on the supervisor’s own candidacy. “I have a lot of experience in primaries, so that’s not something that’s going to be very persuasive in my book,” he said.

Colavita came to office in Eastchester in 2003 after unseating Supervisor James Cavanaugh, a fellow Republican who had obtained the Conservative and Independence endorsements. After narrowly defeating the incumbent in a contentious Republican primary, Colavita won a solid victory over Cavanaugh in the general election rematch and has not faced meaningful opposition from either party in his four subsequent re-election campaigns.

Of course, much is still in flux with redistricting as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to veto the lines suggested by the lawmaker-driven commission known as LATFOR. It’s also unclear if the state’s primary date will change from Sept. 11 in order to match the new Congressional primary date of June 26.

Another side note: Eastchester currently is in IDC-leader Sen. Jeff Klein’s district. Though Klein has never really faced meaningful opposition since taking the seat held by the late Guy Velella, but makes his Bronx district all the safer.

ps37

The banks are Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Also named in the suit is Virginia-based MERSCORP, the company that facilitates the system.

“The banks created the MERS system as an end-run around the property recording system, to facilitate the rapid securitization and sale of mortgages,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “Once the mortgages went sour, these same banks brought foreclosure proceedings en masse based on deceptive and fraudulent court submissions, seeking to take homes away from people with little regard for basic legal requirements or the rule of law. Our action demonstrates that there is one set of rules for all – no matter how big or powerful the institution may be – and that those rules will be enforced vigorously. Only through real accountability for the illegal and deceptive conduct in the foreclosure crisis will there be justice for New York’s homeowners.”

The suit in part could help Schneiderman alleviate any concerns liberals might have over his joining of the dormant investigatory task force. The attorney general was booted from a nationwide settlement panel after refusing to go along with a deal that would help banks escape future scrutiny from lawsuits.

Schneiderman has said he considers the task force involvement and the mortgage settlement debate two separate issues.