Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

State Senate

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he’ll back both Democrats and Republicans on a case-by-case basis.

Manhattan

Rep. Charlie Rangel re-affirmed his support for Guillermo Linares’ Senate bid.

Julie Menin has already maxed out on fundraising for the Manhattan BP race.

Brooklyn

Simcha Felder is in talks with a top GOP operative about managing Felder’s campaign – perhaps indicating the Senate GOP is behind his candidacy.

Opponent David Storobin continued to hit golf balls during a Jewish prayer at a recent charity outing.

Andrew Gounardes’ Senate campaign keeps hammering away on the Marty Golden/Feminine Presence story.

Elsewhere

Sean Patrick Maloney announced his campaign team against Nan Hayworth.

Cuomo’s next big push will be for campaign finance reform.

The New York City Board of Elections is chafing at criticism, but nonetheless is seeking improvements.

Mayor Bloomberg mocked the Board of Elections (again.)

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Despite being out-registered 2 to 1, Republicans retain a stronghold in New York’s state Senate and a hold onto a surprising number of congressional seats.

U.S. Senate

Honoring the memory of U.S. Sen. James Buckley has become a feud in the Republican primary.

Manhattan

More on Gov. Cuomo’s failure to attend a Charlie Rangel fundraiser.

Rangel did an interview with Sean Hannity.

Rangel said (falsely) that no Latino elected officials support Adriano Espaillat.

Brooklyn

Simcha Felder denounced (his one-time friend) Charles Barron’s congressional bid.

The Village Voice profiled OWS congressional candidate George Martinez, at length.

The head of the Brooklyn GOP is eying an Assembly run.

Queens

Sheldon Silver says he has a “special bond” with Grace Meng, but is not endorsing her.

Liz Crowley got a newspaper endorsement.

Elsewhere

The Buffalo News called on Chris Collins to take part in a GOP primary debate.

During her first year in Congress, Rep. Kathy Hochul has often taken stances and votes independent of her Democratic colleagues.

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Simcha Felder

2013 Mayoral Race

New York’s Republican County Chairmen Dan Isaacs, Phil Ragusa, Craig Eaton and Jay Savino discussed their plans to court Republican mayoral candidates with Errol Louis on NY1.

Adolfo Carrion, former Bronx Borough president, is telling friends he’s thinking of running for mayor and will decide by the fall of this year. 

Congressional Races

Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer endorsed State Sen. Adriano Espaillat for Congress yesterday. 

Anti-incumbent Super PAC the Campaign for Primary Accountability is planning to help Adriano Espaillat against Rangel.

Current bronx Borough president Ruben Diaz, Jr., will endorse Charlie Rangel later this week.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says it’s too early for him to endorse either Sen. Espaillat or Rep. Rangel.

Bloomberg’s distance from the Rangel race is similar to President Barack Obama’s. The president hasn’t waded into the race yet either.

State Senate

Simcha Felder raised roughly $200,000 last week in his run for the new “Super-Jewish” State Senate district.

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Joe Lhota

WINNERS

Eric Adams — Okay, we admit it, this could really go to anyone left standing in the Brooklyn Borough President’s race, after heir apparent Carlo Scissura announced he was dropping out of the race to pursue a position as president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Other bandied about candidates include Sen. Kevin Parker and even City Councilman Domenic Recchia, Jr., who’s also been mentioned as a possible comptroller candidate. Regardless, the race is wide open at this point. And for Senate Democrats like Adams, who are basically powerless as newborn kittens in the current Legislature, any position is better than the one they hold now.

Tony Avella – Some critics blasted his hydrofracking forum – not a hearing, mind you – as a media stunt, but it achieved his goal of keeping the contentious issue in the spotlight. On top of that, two potential and potentially strong challengers made it clear they wouldn’t run against him: fellow Democratic Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, who was redrawn into his district, and Republican Frank Padavan, whom Avella ousted two years ago.

Greg Ball — Republican Sen. Greg Ball lost a primary challenger yesterday in the form of Steve Katz, the veterinarian Assemblyman who once faced criminal charges over illegally dumping a dog and separate charges over possible mistreatment of a vicious chihuahua. Ball’s only other primary candidate at this point is a man who shares the same surname with a woman at the heart of a massive Manhattan prostitution ring, which leaves Greg Ball, once thought to be the Senate’s biggest liability, looking like the safe choice for Republicans in his district’s primary.

Simcha Felder — In Hebrew, Simcha translates directly into “joy.” And Simcha Felder certainly had a lot of that during his first week as a Senate candidate, landing the endorsements of the Brooklyn Orthodox communities two most prominent current pols, Councilman David Greenfield and Assemblyman Dov Hikind. That could well box other big-name candidates out of the race, like ex-Councilman Noach Dear, and could convince everyone to simply get behind Felder. Maybe that’s why Felder can be so coy with which party he’ll causus with in Albany, and can play it sort of cute by keeping his city job while he runs.

John Sexton — For months, Mayor Bloomberg teased about the possibility of a second applied sciences campus to help spur the city’s developing tech sector. And this week, in a remarkably well managed roll out, he announced that New York University would join Cornell and Technion in the building their own city-supported engineering school. NYU President John Sexton, who was withstood a wave of discontent over the school’s expansion plans, now gets the chance to be on the winning side of the equation. Excelsior!

LOSERS

Courtney Burke – The problems at the state’s embattled Office for People with Developmental Disabilities were around long before Burke took over, but that isn’t shielding her from criticism lately – especially when word got out the Cuomo administration tried to get a critical OPWDD employee kicked off a legislative hearing she was set to speak at. Both eventually did show up, along with a gaggle of reporters, but Burke would only attribute the matter to a “breakdown in communications.”

Dan Cantor — The Working Families Party must of thought it was in the clear after a judge ordered the disbandment of its for profit campaign arm Data & Field Services. But amid the gear up for the 2012 elections and the attempted revival of Occupy Wall Street comes the news that a special prosector was reopening the case, which means more legal fees and more headaches for Executive Director Dan Cantor. He may want to occupy a therapists couch after this one … Or a bar stool.

Joe Lhota – Whether the governor is a car guy or not, the fact that he hasn’t ridden a subway since taking office won’t persuade anyone he cares much about the MTA. And that’s yet another challenge for the MTA chief, who has to keep the trains running and the stations from falling further into disrepair. He did help pave the way for another applied sciences center in New York City, but  the TWU raised hell about the sale, and tarnished the good deed.

To read the full list at City & State and to vote for the ultimate winner and loser of the week click here.

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Top city and state Republicans are setting up fundraising and paperwork for NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to jump into the mayor’s race in 2013, without Kelly’s involvement.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn is reportedly trying to force Manhattan Borough president Scott Stringer to drop out of the mayor’s race.

NYC mayors have come from Manhattan for nearly 40 years, something a couple candidates are hoping to change.

Brooklyn

The special election in Brooklyn to replace former Sen. Carl Kruger is costing $1 million, 25 percent more than anticipated.

Could Simcha Felder end up running with both Republican and Democratic support?

Queens

The NY-6 race features a slew of ballot challenges.

James Sanders registered a campaign committee for his run against Shirley Huntley.

Manhattan

The Times looks at Harlem’s racial shift and the effect on political power there.

Adriano Espaillat is starting to rack up endorsements in his congressional race.

One of them came from Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who is himself getting a challenge.

Elsewhere

There’s a likely Democratic primary to replace Rep. Jack McEneny.

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The candidates got a thumbs-down on their tech prowess.

Might Kristin Davis run for mayor?

Brooklyn

Hakeem Jeffries may end up getting the endorsement of Andrew Cuomo.

More on Simcha Felder’s state Senate plans.

Manhattan

Rangel and Espailliat are fighting over the endorsement decision of Oscar de la Renta.

State Senate

John Sampson says the Senate Dems’ minimum wage push isn’t about politics.

Elsewhere

Green Party candidates could affect the outcome of several congressional races.

Sheldon Silver may push for public financing for the NY comptroller’s race.

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