Bob Turner. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

As legislators scrambled to get their bills passed with the session coming to a close this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo saw his marijuana legislation go up in smoke, reviving questions about a second-year slump, but sealed a deal on teacher evaluations with the strategic mastery politicos have come to expect from the governor. So with mixed results for Cuomo, we looked elsewhere across the city and state for this week’s winners and losers.

Peter Rivera – When Gov. Cuomo nominated the assemblyman a few months ago to take over as commissioner of the Labor Department, Rivera indicated that it was a hard sell and said that the governor had to convince him to leave. But he’s following a well-worn path to Cuomo-land, a haven for Assembly refugees. And with Rivera’s ties to a troubled Bronx nonprofit, whose executive director was just convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice, the assemblyman may have decided that it was time to go.

Richard Iannuzzi – The Legislature’s passage of a bill to limit disclosure of teacher evaluations was a rare win for the NYSUT president, who has found himself a political punching bag for months as the national political discourse turned toward talk of taming the unions. But Senate Republicans gambled this week on siding with NYSUT over Mayor Michael Bloomberg, both party benefactors, despite Bloomberg’s largesse toward the conference and disapproval of the bill. Iannuzzi, unlike Bloomberg, isn’t a lame duck.

Preet Bharara – We weren’t keeping track with an abacus or anything, but we’re sort of stunned to realize the Southern District U.S. Attorney had notched 60 convictions in insider trading cases over his term in office, including his conviction last week of former Goldman Sachs board member and McKinsey & Co. head Rajat Gupta, a case that had news outlets pondering whether he’d replace Eric Holder as Attorney General or whether he might be the next Eliot Ness. In the middle of it, Bharara took time out to seek the safe return to Mongolia of a dinosaur skeleton, showing there’s no case too big, or too prehistoric, for him to tackle.

Clyde Williams – Prior to Saturday, former DNC political director Clyde Williams’ campaign for Congress was largely ignored, as the media reduced the five-candidate field in NY-13 to Rangel vs. Espaillat. Then came the Times endorsement and a glowing follow-up profile by the Grey Lady. The next day the Daily News added their nod. All this ink might end up being too little too late for Williams, but his campaign couldn’t have hoped for a better final stretch before Tuesday’s primary.

Bob Turner – Turner’s Senate campaign again showed its mastery at pulling off publicity stunts. The same team that engineered last summer’s defeat of David Weprin brought Turner to south Brooklyn this week to sing God Bless the U.S.A. with a bunch of kindergartners, in protest of reports that the kids were being forced to sing Justin Bieber at a graduation ceremony instead of the patriotic song. But the protest turned ugly as the kids were heckled by adults – and when the whole thing was caught on video, Fox News and other conservative media outlets had a fit. Then, Turner blamed the whole thing on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who he may face this fall. In an otherwise low-interest Senate race, Turner found a way to get himself noticed by conservatives.

George Maragos - The GOP candidate for U.S. Senate tried to spin his decision to pay himself back $795,000 of the money he lent his largely self-financed campaign as savvy fiscal management, but it was hard to construe the six-figure withdrawal, which was disclosed in a late filing, as anything other than a tacit admission that his campaign is a sinking ship. Candidates who believe they are going to win pour every last cent they have into the final days of a tight race. Soon-to-be losers, well, they do what Maragos did.

Michael Grimm – The Staten Island congressman is celebrating “Take Your Dog To Work Day” today with his Yorkshire Terrier, Sebastian, but what’s really dogging him these days is the FBI’s investigation into his campaign fundraising. His most recent campaign disclosures listed hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees – far more than he brought in during the same period – and several people on his campaign subsequently said the FBI had been asking questions about 2010 campaign donations and who collected them. A “ruff” time, indeed.

Nick Spano – Some tax cheats do pay the price, it turns out. Once one of the state’s most influential lawmakers, Spano this week was sentenced to a prison term for failing to pay $53,000 in taxes, though the year and a day he’ll spend behind bars is at least somewhat less than the 18 months the prosecutor asked for. He’ll also get to enjoy his freedom through Independence Day – when he’ll perhaps ponder his betrayal of the public trust and the black mark he brought to Westchester’s powerful Spano family – before being locked up on July 9.

Yossi Gestetner - Gestetner resigned his new job as director of Jewish outreach for the state GOP this week after reports surfaced of his past work for an anti-Zionist group and defense of accused sex offenders. That wasn’t exactly convenient for the state GOP, which is trying to make inroads into Brooklyn’s Orthodox community, though the whole thing did seem a slight bit unfair. A well-known Jewish blogger, Gestetner blamed the whole thing on his past, negative writings about Senate candidate Simcha Felder.

Larry Seabrook - What could be worse than facing a corruption trial? Answer: facing your second corruption trial, on the same charges, after having the first one declared a mistrial. No matter what the verdict in the City Councilman’s second case, and despite what, if any, good he’s done as a lawmaker, he won’t be able to shed the ignominy of his doctored receipt charging New York taxpayers $177 for a $7 Snapple and a bagel. That’s a pretty harsh sentence all on its own.

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Wendy Long is a Manhattan lawyer and political newcomer whose campaign has suffered some financial setbacks. She currently holds $193,000 in debt, City & State recently reported, though a campaign spokesperson said she will have sufficient funds to compete in the primary due to prominent backers. Long has an extensive history of involvement in conservative activism and politics as a lobbyist for conservative judges; she pushes for an end to what she sees as “limited self-government” and “elite liberal” destruction of the Constitution and individual rights and enterprise. According to Norquist’s release, Long is the only candidate of the three who has committed to not raising taxes.

Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos accuses his opponents of being indecisive on the tax issue and focuses heavily on his own history of business experience in finance. Prior to his political career, Maragos was a vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank and Citibank before founding SDS Financial Technologies, of which he was president for over 20 years. Maragos says that what’s lacking in Congress is solid economic theory above all else. He believes the government’s top priority is restoring economic growth and creating private sector jobs. Maragos says our economy requires a “fundamental restructuring,” including a restoration to free market principles.
Despite the contentious issues on the table, experts anticipate a low turnout at the primaries; a recent Siena College poll shows 70 percent of Republican voters do not prefer any candidate.

In an interview, the head of the Brooklyn Tea Party, Joseph Hayon, said that while all three GOP Senate candidates had some support, the decision had in large part come down to the fact that Maragos decided to come speak to his organization, while neither of Maragos’ opponents, Turner or Wendy Long, had paid similar tribute.

“One of the biggest complaints Tea Parties have is that in general, elected officials take us for granted,” Hayon said. “[Maragos] was willing to humble himself to get Tea Party support.”

There is also an alternative theory floating around. Though Hayon was an early supporter of Turner’s congressional bid in 2011, Orthodox Pundit says that Hayon, who is a strident opponent of same-sex marriage, was disillusioned by Turner’s reluctance to campaign on the gay marriage issue during his 2011 congressional special election race, in the wake of the legalization of gay marriage in New York. (Turner did bring up the issue during his unsuccessful 2010 bid for Congress.)

Hayon says gay marriage did play a role in the Brooklyn Tea Party’s endorsement decision – because Maragos is the only candidate to publicly back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage – but insisted that no “payback” against Turner was involved.

As a side note, Hayon says he believes Maragos is likely to eventually get the backing of the National Organization for Marriage, as the only one of the three candidates who has publicly backed the idea of an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.

In an interview, Maragos said it would be “premature” to state that NOM was locked down, and said he would be publicly rolling out more endorsements in June.

In other Republican U.S. Senate primary news, Maragos says a debate has been scheduled for June 19^th in Erie County, while the details of a planned NY1 debate are still being hammered out.

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With Joe Carvin’s departure from the race for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination, top consultant Bill O’Reilly’s strange couple of days are over.

O’Reilly confirmed that with Carvin out of the race, he is now back doing press for Rep. Bob Turner, whose campaign for Congress was helped enormously by O’Reilly’s press work. But when Turner announced for Senate this week,with O’Reilly already committed, another member of O’Reilly’s firm, Jessica Proud, handled press for Turner’s campaign, while O’Reilly continued to do Carvin. Both offered to quit both campaigns because of the conflicts, O’Reilly said.

E. O’Brien Murray, who managed Turner’s 2011 congressional campaign and had been considered the mastermind behind the upset, also had been with Carvin.

Here’s the statement that went out this morning:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOE CARVIN: ‘REPUBLICANS WILL BE WELL REPRESENTED IN RACE AGAINST GILLIBRAND’

Withdraws Candidacy; Remains Neutral

Rochester, NY – March 16…Westchester businessman and Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin (R) withdrew his candidacy today for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate.

When Carvin made the decision to get into this race, the Republican Party had only one declared candidate for the office. Carvin entered the race because he wanted to ensure that the Republican Party faithful had a choice of candidates and to ensure that voters understood the depth and urgency of the financial crisis confronting the nation and threatening our long-term jobs prospects.

“I was pleased with the positive feedback I received from Party members and leaders around the state when I talked about the need to fundamentally restructure our entitlement systems, our tax code and health care,” Carvin said.

Carvin made it clear that this kind of fundamental reform could not go forward without shared sacrifice among the people of New York and the United States. “Far too often politicians are afraid to tell voters the truth about the severity of the fiscal and jobs crisis we are facing. I was pleased that the New York Republicans are prepared roll up their sleeves and take on today’s daunting challenges.”

Since Carvin’s decision to enter the race, two new candidates have decided to run for US Senate joining George Maragos in the competition, Wendy Long and Congressman Bob Turner.

“My number one goal in entering the race was to ensure that the Republican Party had a nominee capable of defeating Ms. Gillibrand in November,” Mr. Carvin said. “But in the last several days – after Ms. Gillibrand was ranked the most left-wing senator in America by National Journal and after she voted for higher gas prices by opposing the Keystone XL Pipeline – I believe any of the candidates in this race can beat her. I am one hundred percent confident that I would have received the 25% of the Republican delegate vote necessary to get on the ballot, but I am now comfortable that my party is well represented.”

The New York State Republican Convention, at which a Party nominee will be chosen, is being held today in Rochester, NY.

“This has been a tremendously uplifting experience and I am extraordinarily grateful to all those around the state who have supported me in ways large and small over the past few weeks. I am particularly grateful to my own county chairman Doug Colety and his committee for giving me such strong support.”

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