Political Updates
Election Results – And The Winners Are . . . .
Surprising most observers who felt that New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg would cruise to reelection, William Thompson, came within 5% of upsetting the Mayor’s bid for a third term. The victory makes Mayor Bloomberg the first New York City Mayor elected to a third term since Ed Koch in 1985. Mr. Thompson put up a valiant fight considering he had less than $10 million to spend on the campaign, compared to the over $100 million that the Mayor’s campaign had.
Voters also chose Queens Councilman John Liu as the next New York City Comptroller, making him the first Asian-American to win a citywide election. Brooklyn Councilman Bill DiBlasio won easily as New York City Public Advocate. These two opponents of the term limit extension will keep the pressure on Mayor Bloomberg over the next four years. One or both could emerge as a candidate for the next Mayoral race.
Voters elected the biggest crop of new City Council Members since 2001. At least 13 of the 51 members elected will be freshmen. Five beat incumbents in the September Democratic Primary. Two incumbents in Queens beat back tough challengers. Republican Eric Ulrich defeated Frank Gulluscio 59 - 41% in the 32nd Council District and Democrat Elizabeth Crowley beat back former Councilman Tom Ognibene, 59 – 41%. Republicans also won two other races in Queens. Republican Dan Halloran defeated Kevin Kim in the 19th Council District and Republican Peter Koo beat Democrat Yen Chou to replace John Liu in Flushing.
For the first time, white City Council Members will be in the minority 23 – 28. Margaret Chin, born in Hong Kong, is the first Asian-American to win the Manhattan Chinatown seat. Two gay men from Queens, Daniel Dromm and James Van Bramer easily won their races.
Cyrus Vance was elected New York County District Attorney, replacing Robert Morgenthau. All New York City Borough Presidents easily won re-election.
Outside of New York City Independents who swept Barack Obama to a historic 2008 victory broke big for Republicans on Tuesday as the GOP wrested political control from Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, a troubling sign for the President and his party heading into an important midterm election year.
Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell’s victory in the Virginia Governor’s race over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, and moderate Republican Chris Christie’s ouster of unpopular New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was a double-barreled triumph for a party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008.
Rodriguez Wins City Council Primary
Ydanis Rodriguez emerged as the winner in an eight person Democratic primary race for the 10th district of the New York City Council. Much of the Medical Center is located in the 10th district. As the 10th district usually votes Democratic and there is not even a Republican challenger on the ballot, Mr. Rodriguez is all but certain to be elected to the City Council in November.
Mr. Rodriguez, who had run unsuccessfully for the seat in the past, is one of the founding teachers of Gregorio Luperon High School, a school dedicated to the educational success of new immigrant families. A native of the Dominican Republic, he now lives in the Marble Hill section of the district.
Mr. Rodriquez had been running to defeat incumbent Miguel Martinez. The seat became open when Councilman Martinez abruptly resigned and pleaded guilty in federal court to misuse of government funds. Mr. Rodriguez was able to secure the support of many local elected officials and community leaders and won with over 60% of the vote. Because of the unusual circumstances surrounding his election, Mr. Rodriquez could be sworn in just after his anticipated victory in November, thus giving him seniority over his freshman City Council colleagues who will have to wait until January to take office.
Denny Farrell Hands Reins to Keith Wright
After twenty eight years leading the New York County Democratic Committee, Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell has stepped down as Chair. When asked about his proudest achievements, he joked “getting out alive and unindicted.” Assemblyman Farrell will remain in the Assembly and also remain as Chairman of the highly influential Ways and Means Committee.
His exit clears the way for his colleague, Assemblyman Keith Wright of Harlem to take the reins. He has been grooming Assemblyman Wright to take over the county organization for some time.
Local City Councilman Resigns, Pleads Guilty to Fraud
New York City Councilman Miguel Martinez resigned from his office on July 15th. The next day he pled guilty in Federal Court to stealing more than $100,000 that was intended for local community groups. Through his position on the City Council, Mr. Martinez was able to secure government funding for the Upper Manhattan Council Assisting Neighbors, an organization he helped found and on whose board his sister sat. Instead of going to help the community, the money was funneled back into bank accounts he controlled. He carried out a similar scheme with Washington Heights Arts Center and also submitted false invoices to the City Council. According to the New York Times, he faces up to six years in prison.
No stranger to controversy, Mr. Martinez has previously been investigated by the New York City Campaign Finance Board for irregularities and had paid nearly $50,000 in fines. First elected in 2001, he was running for reelection this year. Under New York law his campaign can name a successor candidate and former Councilman Guillermo Linares is likely to run for the seat. Other candidates include, Ydanis Rodriguez, who lost to Martinez in 2001 and was challenging him again this year, and Community Board 12 Chair and local Assistant Principal, Manny Velazquez.
Musical Chairs at the Capitol
In late May, within the course of a few hours, Governor David Paterson’s office announced that Insurance Superintendent, Eric Dinallo was leaving the Administration for a teaching job at New York University and that State Tax Commissioner, Robert Megna would become the State’s new Budget Director. In addition to these two, word leaked out that Governor Paterson’s Press Secretary, Errol Cockfield, would leave for another job within the Administration. Indications were that Mr. Dinallo’s departure was the most noteworthy and a clear sign that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will challenge Paterson in a 2010 Primary. That is because Dinallo, who was deeply involved in the State’s work with the Federal government to bail out the insurance giant AIG, is increasingly cited as a possible Attorney General candidate should Mr. Cuomo run for Governor. Dinallo declined to comment on that situation. Sources said Cockfield was headed for a position in the Governor’s Inter-governmental Affairs operation under Deputy Secretary Marty Mack. The appointment of Mr. Megna as the new Budget Director was not unexpected since his name was on the short list to replace former Director Laura Anglin who is headed off to become President of CICU, the Commission on Independent College and Universities.
Assembly Republicans Name New Minority Leader
Assembly Republicans named Brian Kolb of Canandaiqua as their new leader replacing Jim Tedisco of Schenectady, who ran for Congress in the 20th District. Assemblyman Kolb indicated that he would continue to highlight many of the same political ailments diagnosed by his predecessor i.e. high taxes and the secrecy that surrounded Democratic leaders’ budget negotiations this year. Kolb continued that illustrating those shortfalls may be the best strategy for a Republican Conference that is outnumbered by Democrats 109 by 41.
Kolb who served as Tedisco’s Pro-Tempore Minority Leader indicated that, “We’ve just got to let people know a little bit more than we just exist.” Tedisco who is locked in a virtual dead heat with Democrat Scott Murphy for the 20th Congressional District seat, announced Friday that he was stepping aside to focus on the likely legal battle surrounding the absentee ballot count in this deadlocked Special Election.
Democrats Take Control of the State Senate
On January 7th, Senator Malcolm Smith (Queens) was sworn in as Majority Leader and President Pro Tem of the New York State Senate as for the first time in over forty years, Democrats became the majority party, but despite electoral success in November, the takeover was not a sure thing.
Going into the election, Democrats needed to pick up two seats in order to take control of the State Senate, which they did with victories in Queens and Suffolk County giving them thirty-two of the sixty-two seats in the body, seemingly enough for a majority, albeit a slim one. Things got complicated however when three Democratic Senators would not pledge to support Senator Smith for Leader. Senators Carl Kruger (Brooklyn), Pedro Espada (Bronx), and Rueben Diaz (Bronx) threatened to withhold their votes or even vote for Republican Senator Dean Skelos as Majority Leader, which would have kept the Republicans in power for another two years.
Senator Smith thought he had a deal with the so called Gang of Three in December, but that fell apart and so Senators came to Albany not knowing who would have the votes needed to take control. The matter was complicated by the fact that currently New York has no Lieutenant Governor to break a tie. Finally, on the day before the Senate was to convene, the Gang of Three agreed to support Senator Smith. This not only gave Democrats control of the upper chamber for the first time since Nelson Rockefeller was Governor, it also put them in charge of the Executive and both Houses of the Legislature.
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