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Campaign Roundup: Wall Street Fears Charles Barron Congressional Win

City & State — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:32:29 +0000

Charles Barron, photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

Brooklyn

POLITICO looked at Ed Towns’ unexpected endorsement of Charles Barron.

Wall Street and the city’s political class are fearful of a Barron win.

Hakeem Jeffries and Barron debate foreign policy.

Queens

Rory Lancman is pounding the issue of protecting social security.

Bronx/Manhattan

Charlie Rangel skipped a debate in the Bronx, which Adriano Espaillat criticized.

Espaillat himself denied that he is ignoring African-Americans by skipping a forum.

At a debate both attended, they debated the virtues of longevity.

U.S. Senate

Rudy Giuliani appeared in a radio ad for Bob Turner.

Israel Remains Central Issue in Local Congressional Race

Chris Bragg — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:43:14 +0000

In the wake of last week’s New York Times article on the NY-06 race evolving into “Israelapalooza,” Assemblyman Rory Lancman’s supporters are attempting to raise money off Councilwoman Liz Crowley’s comment in the article that all the emphasis on Israel is a “distraction.”

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.

Heard Around Town, April 16, 2012

City & State — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:16:34 +0000

* Assemblyman Rory Lancman is set to be endorsed by the Communications Workers of America at an event today where the NY-09 congressional candidate will also call for the adoption of the so-called “Buffet Rule,” the tax code change being promoted by the Obama administration. The CWA’s endorsement shouldn’t be too surprising. Lancman has already been endorsed by the Working Families Party, which is co-chaired by CWA political director Bob Master. But the assemblyman has received the lion’s share of labor in the three-way Democratic Party, having already been endorsed by 1199 and RWDSU, and may also get DC 37. Assemblywoman Grace Meng has the powerful Hotel Trades Council, and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowleyis being supported by the Firefighters Union.

* 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.

Heard Around Town: March 30, 2012

City & State — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:22:54 +0000

* Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman told the Politicker at a recent press conference that if he loses his race for Congress, he definitely won’t run for re-election to the Assembly. But two prominent colleagues in Albany who are also running for Congress, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, are unwilling to go that far. Due to a quirky election calendar, congressional primaries are in June, and state legislative primaries are expected to be in September. That gives Albany legislators the chance to actually run and lose a primary for Congress, then petition onto the ballot and run for their state legislative seats. “Hakeem is running for Congress,” said spokeswoman Lupe Todd. “There has been no discussion of running for re-election to the State Assembly because we plan to win on June 26.” Meanwhile, the campaign of Espaillat, who has already gathered enough petition signatures to get onto the ballot for a run against Congressman Charlie Rangel, also would not rule out a September Senate run. Of course, Espaillat’s position is even more complex, since he hasn’t officially declared plans to run for Congress. “We’re not there yet,” said campaign spokesman Ibrahim Khan. “It’s a non-issue right now because we haven’t yet announced for Congress.”

* City & State is proud to present State of Our State, a half-day forum up in Albany on April 25th. The three sessions will focus on Health Care and Medicaid, Energy Development/Exploration Opportunities, and Public-Private Partnerships. Featured guest speakers will include Sen. Kemp Hannon, Sen. George Maziarz, Tom Madison of the New York Thruway Authority, Liz Benjamin of Capitol Tonight/YNN and many others. City & State would also like to invite nominations for our annual Albany Rising Stars: 40 under 40 issue. Nominations should be elected officials, staffers, lobbyists, candidates, activists, reporters and other movers and shakers under 40 years old who are making a difference in Albany. The closing date for your submissions will be Friday, April 13. Winners will be announced shortly after, with details on a reception to be held in Albany in May.

To read more from City & State click here.