Archive for the ‘Democratic Party’
Putnam Valley Democrats will honor former congressman • 08.30.11
Former Congressman John Hall is slated to receive the 8th Jim Gordon Award for Excellence in Public Service next month from the Putnam Valley Democratic Committee. The award is named for Gordon, a former Putnam County legislator who died in 2003.
According to the committee, the “award continues to honor his (Gordon’s) dedication as a public servant who served both the town and the county in many capacities. The award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to Putnam Valley through public service in an elected or appointed position.”
Hall, a Democrat, served two terms in the House of Representatives before losing to Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, in 2010.
Obama helps raise $1.3 million tonight • 05.13.10
President Barack Obama completes his visit to New York tonight by helping the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raise $1.3 million.
According to the committee, the event at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan has 185 guests who each paid at least $15,000. For that amount, each person or couple will have their photo taken with the president and attend the presidential dinner. Those who paid $25,000 per person ($50,000 per couple) also qualified for a VIP reception.
Obama flew directly to JFK Airport following his afternoon visit to Buffalo where he discussed economic issues during as visit to a factory.
Another special congressional election for NY • 03.05.10
Today’s announcement by freshman Rep. Eric Massa of Corning that he is resigning from office once again sets up a special congressional election in New York’s 29th Congressional District.
It’ll be the third in a year.
Democrats won the two special elections held last year, but that was before widespread voter unrest with Congress and disillusionment with the Obama administration.
It also comes on the heels of scandals involving three prominent New York lawmakers: Gov. David Paterson, Harlem Rep. Charlie Rangel and Massa.
The special election last spring to fill the 20th Congressional District seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand received widespread attention when another Democrat, Scott Murphy, won in the Republican-leaning Hudson Valley district.
But the attention given to that race paled in comparison to the national coverage given to the race in the 23rd Congressional District covering the state’s North Country last fall. That race, to fill the seat vacated by John McHugh upon his confirmation as Secretary of the Army, became a national referendum on the split in the Republican Party between moderates and tea party conservatives. The split left Democrat Bill Owens an unlikely winner.
Residents of Western New York should be forewarned that come April and May they will be under a national microscope.
Rangel’s birthday bash • 07.29.09
Congressman Charles Rangel’s birthday bash at Tavern on the Green in Manhattan on Aug. 11 features an interesting assortment of headliner guests: Gov. David Paterson and Richard Ravitch, a former transit authority chairman and Paterson’s pick for lieutenant governor. Other featured guests include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, his Democratic opponent and New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson, New York’s junior U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. Should be lively.
The top contribution to Rangel’s Victory Fund starts at $2,500.
Greg Ball boasts of fundraising victory but… • 07.16.09
State Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, a challenger for the 19th District Congressional seat, has proclaimed that the $182,149 he raised between Feb. 1 and June 30 shows broad support.
But the figures vaunted by Ball don’t take into account the time it took him to raise the money compared with U.S. Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, who raised $160,549 between April 1 and June 30, according to Federal Elections Commission finance reports.
With the election still more than 15 months away, Hall has $291,842 in cash on hand compared with Ball’s $100,402.
Neither candidate is doing all that well by national standards.
Nationwide, Democratic congressional candidates, have raised $93.8 million, or $382,750 on average, while Republicans have brought in $52 million, or $206,250 on average, according to the non-profit Center for Responsive Politics.
Ball hopes to narrow the gap with a “Rockin’ Rib Fest & Battle of the Bands” on July 25 at the 300-acre North Ridge Farm in Patterson. Entry is $10 a head or $75 for passes to the “VIP Congressional Tent.”
The event is sponsored by the National Rifle Association, according to Ball’s publicity. State Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith and Westchester County Legislator George Oros, R-Cortlandt, are listed as “event chairs and honorary BBQ judges.”
What matters in Carmel? • 06.12.09
The Town of Carmel Democratic Committee wants to know what residents in Putnam County’s largest town consider to be the most pressing issues.
And to that end, they have extended an open invitation to residents to join them during a committee meeting next Tuesday in Mahopac. In addition, candidates endorsed by the commitee for local office —Kevin McConville for Putnam County Sheriff, David McKay Wilson for Carmel Town Supervisor and Marc Pekowsky and Suzanne McDonough for Carmel Town Board—have also been invited to share their views, said the organizers Dave Gagliardi and Lillian Jones, the co-chairpeople of the town committee.
The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Lantern Restaurant, Route 6 near Croton Falls Road.
Velazquez, Towns endorse Gillibrand • 06.08.09
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced this morning that two members of the New York City congressional delegation have endorsed her.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez, chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Rep. Edolphus Towns, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, join a growing list of members of the New York congressional delegation who endorsed Gillibrand.
Gillibrand has been actively seeking endorsements, even though the 2010 election is 17 months away.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan has indicated she is close to making a formal announcement that she intends to challenge Gillibrand in a primary.
Sharpton, Meeks endorse Gillibrand • 06.05.09
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced this morning she has picked up two more endorsements in her 2010 effort to win the Senate seat she was appointed to in January.
The Reverend Al Sharpton of Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens have decided to formally back Gillibrand 17 months prior to the 2010 general election.
Gillibrand has acknowledged that she’s been making phone calls to Democrats around the state, seeking early support for the 2010 race.
A major reason behind the effort, of course, is to reduce the possibility of a big name Democrat challenging Gillibrand in a September 2010 primary.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan remains the mostly likely challenger, but she has not made a formal announcement.
Biden phones Maloney • 06.04.09
Presidential chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, met privately with Israel at the White House on May 13 to urge him to stay in the House. And President Barack Obama phoned Israel two days later to appeal for party unity. Hours later, Israel announced he would not run.
Maloney, of Manhattan, may now be facing the same pressure.
Congressional Quarterly reported Wednesday that Maloney was planning to announce her candidacy for Senate on her campaign Web site Thursday. Members of the New York congressional delegation denied that, but a spokesman for one indicated Maloney had asked supporters to film video endorsements for use on her Web site.
Maloney has said in media interviews that she is considering a Senate primary, but she had not set a date to announce a decision.
Speculation the nine-term lawmaker was close to deciding surged after she hired a fundraiser and public relations firm.
The PR firm, Manhattan-based Knickerbocker SKD, represented former first daughter Caroline Kennedy in her unsuccessful bid to be appointed to the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Kennedy was passed over by Gov. David Paterson, who instead appointed Gillibrand, a 42-year-old attorney and native of the Albany area first elected to the House in 2006.
Maloney’s fundraiser is Cynthia “Cindy” Darrison of Manhattan-based Darrison Barrett & Associates.
Democrats hope for NY House pickup • 06.03.09
In a memo released several hours after President Barack Obama announced McHugh’s nomination, the National Republican Congressional Committee claimed the move was partly motivated by the desire to put McHugh’s House seat in Democratic hands.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, “was well aware of the political ramifications surrounding this selection when this plan was hatched,” the memo said. “The party boss in the West Wing saw a political opportunity and he seized on it.”
Democrats dominate the state’s congressional delegation, holding both Senate seats and 26 of 29 House seats after picking up three in last year’s election.
Republicans lost upstate districts to Democrats Eric Massa of Corning and Dan Maffei of DeWitt, as well as a New York City district covering Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, where Democrat Mike McMahon won an open seat.
If the Senate confirms McHugh, the only New York Republicans serving in Congress will be Rep. Peter King of Long Island and freshman Rep. Chris Lee from the Buffalo suburb of Clarence.
Early handicapping by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report is that the race for McHugh’s seat will be a tossup.
Although McHugh’s 23rd District has a long history of being represented by Republicans, Democrats see an opportunity. Obama picked up 52 percent of the vote in the district in last year’s presidential election.
That’s slightly better than he did in the 20th District, where Democrat Scott Murphy won a special election earlier this year. The win kept Kirsten Gillibrand’s former House seat in the Democratic column after Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate by Gov. David Paterson.
Murphy’s close victory over Republican state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco was not considered an upset because a Democrat had won the seat in 2006 and 2008.
That hasn’t been the case in the 23rd District, where McHugh, a former state senator, has represented the state’s North Country since 1992. The district covers all of or part of 11 counties, with about half of them bordering Vermont or the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Registered Republicans in the district outnumber registered Democrats by more than 46,000 voters.
“Despite the edge Republicans have in voter registration, it’s at least an even contest,’’ said Ivan Kenneally, an assistant professor of American politics at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
He said the parts of the district along the Canadian and Vermont borders and on the edge of Syracuse have been trending Democratic.
David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said the Republican-leaning voter registration numbers and Democratic-leaning presidential election results demonstrate the district is competitive.
“It’s unfair to say this district leans one way or another,’’ he said. “It’s really a middle-of-the-road district.’’
On the Democratic side, party leaders are unlikely to choose a state senator such as Darrel J. Aubertine of Cape Vincent or David Valesky of Oneida because it could result in a loss of a Democratic majority in that chamber, where Democrats hold a 32-30 edge.
“There is no leading Democrat,’’ said Rep. Steve Israel, national recruiting chairman for the DCCC. “This is very early in the process. John McHugh won’t be confirmed for four to six weeks.’’
Israel held a telephone conference call Tuesday afternoon with Democratic county leaders who will choose the candidate.
Several Republicans – state Sen. Joseph Griffo of Rome; state Assemblyman Will Barclay of Pulaski; state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava of Gouverneur, and Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne – said Tuesday they were considering the race.
“It’s been an honor to serve a lot of that area and advocate for that area,” said Griffo.
Another possible candidate is Republican Robert Taub, McHugh’s chief of staff.
The governor won’t set the date for a special election until after the vacancy occurs.
