New York Partisan Redistricting Fight Continues

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

Reform defeated; so now what? - Most proponents of independent redistricting stop short of ‘no’ vote (Queens Chronicle) The new lines would set Queens Democrats Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria) and Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) against each other, as well as Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and Tony Avella (D-Bayside).

NY-9 Special Election Goes to Bob Turner

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SPECIAL ELECTION RESULTS: Ninth Congressional District (City Hall News)

• Ninth Congressional District: Bob Turner 54%, David Weprin 46%
• 23rd Assembly District: Phil Goldfeder 54%, Jane Deacy 46%
• 27th Assembly District: Michael Simanowitz 76%, Marco DeSena 24%
• 54th Assembly District: Rafael Espinal 44%, Jesus Gonzalez 32%, Deidra Towns 23%
• 73rd Assembly District: Dan Quart 66%, Paul Niehaus 34%
• 116th Assembly District: Anthony Brindisi 57%, Gregory Johnson 43%
• 144th Assembly District: Sean Ryan 71%, Sean Kipp 21%
• 28th City Council District: Ruben Wills 67%, Allan Jennings 17%, Michael Duvalle 11%, Clifton Stanley Diaz 6%

• After Weprin Loss, Queens Democratic Party Faces Hard Questions (By Adam Lisberg, City Hall News) Yet within Democratic circles, Republican Bob Turner’s surprise 8-point victory over Assemblyman David Weprin was a harsh judgment on the Queens Democratic Party, which picked Weprin, assumed he would win easily in a district with a 3-1 Democratic tilt, and failed to react when Turner’s campaign caught fire. “They picked a candidate, rested on their laurels and wrote off Brooklyn,” said a frustrated Democratic elected official, one of many who gave up on the Queens Democratic Party’s efforts long before Election Day.
• CANDIDATE COLLEGE: A NEW YORK CIVIC ENGAGEMENT EVENT (Co-Sponsored by Common Cause New York, Women’s City Club of New York, and New Roosevelt, Media Sponsors: City Hall & The Capitol)
• Koch’s reapportionment plan is dead (LETTER Queens Courier) Although a majority of state legislators actively endorsed former Mayor Koch’s call for an independent legislative redistricting process, this is not what we got. Where are the voices that promised an independent redistricting commission? Of course, nowhere to be found now that the two parties begin drawing district lines that will insure the re-election of these politicians over the next 10 years? When we elect the same people, time and time again, why should we expect different results?
• Democratic Party Pick Wins Brooklyn Race (By LIZ ROBBINS, NY Times) The Democratic machine whirred and then roared in northern Brooklyn on Tuesday, churning out a significant victory for Rafael L. Espinal in a fiercely contested three-way race for the 54th State Assembly District seat.
• Republican Wins N.Y. Democrat Weiner's House Seat (by Joel Rose, NPR) "There may be some people that are voting against Weprin because they think they're voting against Obama," said Greg Stein of Forest Hills. "I don't buy it. I don't see that connection well at all." Stein thinks voters in the district are angry about the economy, not the president's foreign policy.
• Is the Republican Win in New York a Sign? (By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NY Times/The Caucus) But drawing broad conclusions from elections in districts of about 600,000 people — especially when only a small fraction of those turn out to vote — can be tricky.

Today's NY-9 Special Election a Partisan Conundrum

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• Special Election! So What’s So Special? (By CLYDE HABERMAN, NY Times/City Room) The ballot choices on Tuesday come courtesy of the leaders of the major parties, who could not bear the idea of letting people in that Brooklyn-Queens district choose their candidates in open primaries.
• Anti-Gay Marriage Forces Converge On NY-9 (By Adam Lisberg, City Hall News) The TV ads and the big endorsements are trying to make today’s special election in the Ninth Congressional District a referendum on President Barack Obama, Republican budget cuts and Israel – but a low-profile campaign among Orthodox Jews aims to make it about same-sex marriage.
• Dems fear loss in N.Y. House race (By: Alex Isenstadt, Politico) In a room adorned with pictures of Queens County Democratic power players, including Rep. Joe Crowley, the party chairman, and the late Rep. Thomas Manton, a row of desks is stacked with get-out-the-vote materials, organized in manila envelopes by neighborhood — part of what Weprin officials describe as a sophisticated Election Day operation. The campaign says it has 1,000 workers and by Tuesday will have contacted more than 200,000 voters — some more than once. With the assistance of the organized labor-backed Working Families Party, Democrats plan to target around 60,000 labor households. 
• Pols: Vito’s a geezer freezes (By Aaron Short, The Brooklyn Paper) Good government groups call the practice “objectionable.” “Seniors should not be walled off from the world for political reasons or any other,” said Common Cause’s Susan Lerner. “Seniors want company, they want to feel a part of current events.”

Hot Summer, Volatile Political Scene in New York State

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• Protesters surprise Meeks over debt vote; Pol calms fears of demonstrators (by AnnMarie Costella, Queens Chronicle) On a picturesque afternoon, the group — a combination of individuals from UnitedNY.org, New York Communities for Change and the Working Families Party — marched in front of Meeks’ office chanting slogans like “Help the poor and the needy, not the rich and the greedy,” and “This is what democracy looks like.” They also waved signs, some of which read “Protect Queens” and “Whose side are you on?”


• Protestors in Harlem Rail Against Zimbabwe Sanctions and Libya Bombing (Bulawayo 24 News) Some of the organizing groups were the Nation of Islam, the December 12 Movement, the Freedom Party and many local organizations, most reflecting the Pan-African activist movement. Anti-imperialist organizations like the International Action Center also supported the event. Workers World Party members distributed thousands of newspapers and leaflets throughout the city to build for the action.


• MATTER OF NEW YORK STATE COMM. OF INDEPENDENCE PARTY v. NEW YORK STATE BD. OF ELECTIONS ( Leagle.com) Re: Erie County Wilson Pakula authorization


• MATTER OF McGRATH v. ABELOVE (Leagle.com) Re: Rensselaer County Wilson Pakula authorization


• Bosworth loses Independence ballot line (JESSICA ABLAMSKY, The Island Now) Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) was thrown off the Independence Party line for the Sept. 13 primary election after a successful lawsuit by her District 10 opponent, Republican Elizabeth Berney, a Great Neck resident who twice ran unsuccessful challenges against Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-Roslyn Heights).