via Wiki Commons

2013 Mayoral Race

Anthony Weiner’s wife is reportedly urging him to give a tell-all interview, amid rumors that he’s considering a run for mayor or public advocate.

John Liu raised $600K despite his fundraising scandal.

Tom Allon himself raised $250K.

Christine Quinn is already focused on fundraising for a possible general election.

Queens

One of the contenders for Assemblywoman Grace Meng’s seat runs prostitution ads in his Korean-language newspaper.

The state GOP infused cash into Councilman Eric Ulrich’s Senate bid.

State Senate

Democratic State Sen. Jeff Klein is surprisingly running with the support of the Bronx GOP.

Dean Skelos now has a war chest of more than $2 million.

Suffolk County GOP State Sen. Owen Johnson suddenly decided to retire.

David Valesky surprisingly has no GOP challenger.

To read more campaign coverage from City & State click here.

Rudy Giuliani. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

U.S. Senate

Wendy Long and Bob Turner got into a spat over a robocall Rudy Giuliani recorded for Turner.

Brooklyn

Fearing the potential election of Charles Barron, a flood of national campaign cash in flowing in for Hakeem Jeffries.

Nydia Velazquez and her challengers debated on NY1.

Manhattan

Tom Duane officially endorsed Brad Hoylman.

Queens

Grace Meng loaned her campaign $60,000.

Staten Island

Despite ample fodder, Mark Murphy is largely keeping things positive in his battle with Michael Grimm.

State Senate

Sen. Steve Saland lost the Conservative line over his gay marriage vote.

Elsewhere

Sunday was a frenzied day of campaigning in New York’s congressional primaries.

Ex-Gov. George Pataki recorded a robocall blasting Sean Patrick Maloney.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he isn’t weighing in on the NY-18 primary.

Cuomo did endorse Velazquez, Jeffries and Charlie Rangel.

To read more from City & State click here.

Clyde Williams with his family. Photo courtesy of clyde2012.com.

Clyde Williams, one of a handful of Democratic candidates running in the Congressional district spanning northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, has been largely overlooked in the press with much of the attention going to longtime incumbent Rep. Charlie Rangel and to another challenger, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat. But this weekend Williams, who used to head the Democratic National Committee, landed a key endorsement from the New York Times, which wrote that he “understands the area’s diverse needs and has plans for job creation, education and tax reform.” Williams said the endorsement made clear that he is “the one candidate in the race with fresh ideas for the future – and the skills and experience to turn them into a reality.” “While my opponents debate each others’ ethics, I focus squarely on what matters to people – jobs, education, housing,” he continued. “This race is about progress towards the future, not the politics of the past.” The Times also endorsed candidates in four more Democratic Congressional primaries, giving the nod to Richard Becker in the 18th Congressional District, to Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in the 8th, to Rep. Nydia Velázquez in the 7^th and to Assemblywoman Grace Meng in the 6^th.

Sasson

Self-funding lotto millionaire Isaac Sasson, who narrowly lost a City Council bid in 2009 and a state Senate bid in 2010, is now seriously weighing a run for Assemblywoman Grace Meng’s seat, according to political consultant Jay Golub, a key advisor during Sasson’s 2010 campaign.

“He is weighing his options,” Golub said in an email. “Many of his strongest supporters and leaders in the community are encouraging him, but he hasn’t ruled anything in or out as of yet. He should have a decision early next week.”

As we reported recently, Korean-American business leader Myungsuk Lee is also eying a run, as is Yen Chou, who beat Sasson narrowly in the 2009 City Council primary in Flushing. The Council race was ultimately won by Republican (now Democrat) Peter Koo.

In 2010, Sasson lost a fairly close three-way race to State Sen. Toby Stavisky, but apparently has decided not to take on Stavisky in her redrawn district this year.

A Sephardic Orthodox rabbi, Sasson has a strong natural base in Flushing, but his campaigns in the past have brought clashes with Flushing’s growing Asian-American population, especially in 2003, when he ran against then Councilman John Liu. He won a $13 million dollar jackpot several years later.

The Queens Democrats delayed picking a candidate to run for Meng’s seat on Monday, but are expected to pick a candidate soon. Sasson, after running against county-backed candidates several times, would face long odds in landing that particular jackpot. Of course, there’s no guarantee the seat will even be open, since Meng could potentially lose her congressional bid and run for Assembly re-election.

The below fundraising pitch was sent out Friday afternoon by former New York City Councilman Steve Orlow, a former “member at large” who now practices law in Flushing, and Eli Hertz, a pro-Israel author. In the pitch, the Lancman supporters profess that they were “shocked” at Crowley’s statement, and that the “flippant attitude towards Israel’s safety and security shows that certain candidates in Queens are simply not fit for the responsibilities of national office.”

Oh, and that people upset about Crowley’s comment should give money to Lancman.

In the Times article, Crowley says she would rather focus on issues like health care and care for the elderly. And in an email to City & State over the weekend, one of Crowley’s top campaign advisers wrote in defending the candidate’s comment:

Elizabeth Crowley believes that Israel is America’s most important ally in the Middle East — our strategic partner against global terrorism — and values that relationship and honors New York’s special bond with the people of Israel,” the Crowley adviser wrote.

However, there is distance between the candidates (Rory and Grace, on one hand, and Elizabeth on the other) in terms of *emphasis*.

* Israel is not the most important issue we face,

* it’s not the most important issue for most voters in this election, and

* Elizabeth’s campaign does not intend to be governed by what some people might view as the David Weprin/Bob Turner playbook.

When Elizabeth calls this is a distraction, that’s what she meant: candidates focusing on Israel to the detriment of other issues is a distracting for the electorate and, frankly, if folks are thinking of this race as “Israelapalooza,” as one person said in the Times, that’s a bit demeaning to the process and to voters. If Rory’s campaign or Grace’s campaign want to be recognized as “the Israel candidates” or “the Israel candidates,” — for fundraising purposes or otherwise — we’re not going to fight them for the privilege of running a single-issue campaign.

Assemblywoman Grace Meng and Republican Councilman Dan Halloran are also running, and like Lancman, both are paying their fair share of respect to Israel issues.

To read the article at City & State and see Lancman’s initial fundraising pitch, click here.

Andrew Cuomo reportedly is open to endorsing Ray Kelly’s possible candidacy, but would wait to see the outcome of the Democratic primary.

Malcolm Smith joked that he might throw his hat into the mayoral field.

Brooklyn

Who else may be eying a Brooklyn BP run, now that Carlo Scissura is out of the race?

The David Storobin campaign staffer accused of petition fraud will appear in court on Tuesday.

Queens

State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky said her new district is much like her old one.

The Queens Chronicle slammed Grace Meng for her consultant’s ties to a newspaper that runs prostitution ads.

Meng said in an email that the consultant, Michael Nussbaum, has a very limited role in her campaign, though he’s been described as Meng’s main consultant.

More labor endorsements were rolled out in NY-6.

State Senate

The Department of Justice gave initial clearance to the Senate redistricting lines.

To read more from City & State visit www.cityandstateny.com.

* When trying to oust long-serving Rep. Charlie Rangel, it never hurts to show off your rich donors. And that’s what Clyde Williams, former  Clinton advisor, is doing, releasing a list of some of his top donors to City & State. So far, Williams has received contributions from the following: Clarence Avant, music mogul and former Rangel supporter; Peter Rouse, former interim chief of staff to President Barack Obama; Paul Tudor Jones II, Republican philanthropist and hedge fund manager who founded Robin Hood and is one of Forbes’s 500 Richest People in the World; Andi Bernstein, Obama national finance committee member and wife of Chelsea Piers owner Tom Bernstein; Blair Effron, another former Rangel supporter who is on Obama’s national finance committee; Cathy Lasry, wife to Avenue Capital’s Marc Lasry; Sally Sussman, chair of Christine Quinn’s finance committee; Founder & CEO of Energy Brands Darius Bikoff; and Former executive vice president of Merril Lynch Barry Friedberg. Williams has raised over $270,000 so far, and has almost $200,000 cash-on-hand for his race against Rangel.