Politics on the Hudson

Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld won’t seek the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the November election.

“New York needs an energetic and fiscally conservative candidate to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for the United States Senate,’’ Feld said in a statement issued this afternoon. “But the timing for me to be that candidate is not right. I have been blessed with many personal and professional commitments, and they will likely require more of my attention this year than I could reasonably devote as a statewide candidate. Consequently, I will not challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for U.S. Senate in 2010.’’

No Republican challenger has yet emerged.

Republican Rep. Peter King of Long Island recently reconsidered his earlier decision to not enter the race. And he came to the same conclusion.

“Stay tuned,’’ White House spokesman Robert Gibbs advised reporters at today’s daily briefing when asked to handicap the possibility former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. will be persuaded by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Chuck Schumer to  not engage in a Democratic primary against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

” Look, I think the White House is quite happy with the leadership and the representation of Senator Gillibrand in New York, and as many are in the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee), we’re supporting her re-election,’’ Gibbs said.

Ford, a  former  Tennessee congressman who moved to New York three years ago, issued a statement last week that he will not be “bullied’’ into dropping his exploratory effort.

Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King of Seaford announced today he will not seek the Republican nomination to  run against Gillibrand.  Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld is still considering a bid  for the Republican nomination.

A Long Island businessman and county lawmaker who hoped to become the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate instead endorsed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand at a news conference Monday in Mineola, Long Island.

Jon Cooper, majority leader of the Suffolk County legislature, spent the summer and fall exploring the possibility of running in a September 2010 Democratic primary against Gillibrand.

“I thought Gillibrand was a flip flopper who had no core values,’’ Cooper said in a telephone interview this evening.

But three weeks ago, Cooper sat down for dinner at a Capitol Hill restaurant with the 43-year-old attorney and mother of two who was appointed to the Senate in January to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The dinner was suggested by a mutual friend involved in Democratic Party politics at the national level who had tried unsuccessfully for many weeks  to persuade Cooper not to run. Cooper declined to identify the person by name.

During the dinner Cooper said he quizzed Gillibrand on gun  control  first,  followed by tobacco, immigration, gay and lesbian rights and other issues.

“After I met with Kirsten for several hours, and had an opportunity to engage in in-depth discussions on a wide array of policy issues, I realized that my perceptions of her were primarily based on media reports and second-hand stories,” Cooper said in a news release.  “I now believe that she’s the real deal and I’m convinced she will vote the way I would, work as hard as I would, and strive for the same progressive goals as I would.”

Cooper was the last remaining elected official among a handful who considered a primary challenge to Gillibrand. Earlier this year, Rep. Steve Israel, also from Long Island, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan dropped plans for a challenge.

More recently, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer also dropped plans for a primary and, like Cooper, endorsed Gillibrand.

Still in the picture as a possible primary opponent is labor activist Jonathan Tasini, who received 16 percent of the vote in a 2006 primary against Clinton.

No Republican has formally announced plans to run against Gillibrand, although Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld has said she is considering it.

Local officials all across Westchester County have weighed in on their frustration with Gov. David Paterson’s proposed budget, including Larchmont’s mayor Liz Feld.

Here’s what Feld had to say about the budget, speaking on behalf of the group New Yorkers for Growth:

“Please tell us this is an April Fool’s Joke. The proposed state budget is breathtakingly irresponsible. It will cost New Yorkers thousands of jobs and guarantee tough days ahead.

Wall-Street tax revenues are shrinking precipitously—perhaps permanently—and small businesses are closing around the state. Adding more taxes to the mix could be catastrophic to long-term job development here.

This budget is beyond irresponsible. It should serve as a rallying cry to every New Yorker who has had enough. We hope this budget is a bottom for New York State, but fear it is not. The Legislature and Governor could not have done a worse job.”

In a decision issued  late last night, the The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee sided with Republican state Senate candidate Liz Feld in one of two complaints she filed against state Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer, the Democrat Feld is seeking to unseat today in the 37th District.

Specifically, the committee said it was unfair that Oppenheimer put out campaign literature that claims “Only one candidate for state senate is proposing to cut property taxes” and that “My Republican Conservative opponent supports merely capping increases to school taxes.” Feld complained that she has consistently been in favor of property tax relief, and that in addition to capping school taxes, she is also in favor of other policy measures that would likely reduce property taxes.The committee found she was “indeed in favor of property tax reduction” and Oppenheimer’s statements “exaggerate the difference between the two candidates on this score and are therefore misleading.”

The committee declined to take sides in the second complaint filed by Feld over mailings from the Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion-Political Action Committee in support of Oppenheimer that labeled Feld “anti-choice.” Feld bills herself as “pro-choice” in the abortion debate; the committee said such labels can cover a wide range of positions on the issue and “falls within the scope of political debate.”

The committee has no power to fine or sanction the candidates but does publicize its findings in an attempt to promote fair play. Earlier in the campaign, it found against Feld for a mailing that purported to be from Oppenheimer over a missed tax vote.

With roughly a week and a half to go until election day, local candidates in some key races are facing off at forums around the area sponsored by the League of Women Voters and others. Last night Assemblyman George Latimer, D-Rye, and his challenger, Republican Rob Biagi, went head to head, as did Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Mamaroneck, and her challenger, Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld. Aman Ali has the report here.

Tuesday night in Yonkers it was Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, and her challenger, Republican John Murtagh, a member of the Yonkers city council. Read Len Maniace’s report here.

Want to catch up on our elections coverage, see bios of those running, video from our editorial board meetings with the candidates, and see who the editorial board has endorsed? You can find it all—for Rockland, Putnam and Westchester counties—on our Election Central page here. It’s full of info, and worth checking out.

WCLA — Choice Matters, a pro-choice advocacy organization, today endorsed state Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Mamaroneck, in her relection bid for the 37th Senate District.

“She is 100 percent pro-choice 100 percent of the time,” Choice Matters President Catherine Lederer-Plaskett said in a statement released today. “Westchester women can trust Suzi to protect their right to choose.”

Lederer-Plaskett went on to say that Oppenheimer has advocated for women on issues in the work force, domestic violence, teen pregnancy prevention, sex education and other matters.

Oppenheimer is running against Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld, a Republican.

The state GOP has sent a mailer to residents in the 37th district about the husband of Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Mamaroneck, using a parking pass he doesn’t need.

The mailer calls Martin Oppenheimer out for using the parking pass, when Sen. Oppenheimer, in a recent letter to constituents, said don’t “park in a spot reserved for the disabled when you aren’t eligible to use it — not even for a minute.”

Larchmont mayor Liz Feld is the Republican challenger to Oppenheimer this season. Democrats need to gain two seats in order to capture control of the state senate and the GOP has responded by pumping over $291,000 into Feld’s campaign.
You can take a look at the mailer by clicking here.

Both campaigns today announced recent endorsements they’ve racked up. Feld’s team has picked up the backing of the state Police Benevolent Association and Oppenheimer has picked up a nod from Sen. Chuck Schumer and a $9,500 grant from the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, a group that funds democratic female candidates.

Larchmont mayor Liz Feld, the Republican hoping to offseat state Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Mamaroneck, this season, has picked up an endorsement from the National Federation of Independent Business.

The NFIB describes itself as the nation’s largest small business association. Mike Elmendorf, New York’s NFIB director, said in a release the group is backing Feld because “her support for broad-based tax relief, a real property tax cap and limits on the growth of state spending and debt will help turn New York into a better place to start and run a business.”

If you haven’t already, check out Feld and Oppenheimer go at it in front the Journal News editorial board here. The last 4-5 minutes of the interview are filled with some entertaining exchanges.

The New York League of Conservation Voters is out with its full list of candidate endorsements, and it should be noted that in the Sound Shore state Senate race, it has endorsed BOTH Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld, the Republican candidate, and Suzi Oppenheimer, the incumbent Democrat. Feld’s endorsement was previously noted in this space.

Here are other local races the group weighed in on:

• Congress, 17th district: Eliot Engel (D)

• Congress, 19th district: John Hall (D)

• State Assembly, 99th district: John Degnan (D)

• State Assembly, 90th district: Sandy Galef (D)

• State Assembly, 95th District: Ellen Jaffee (D)

• State Assembly, 91st district: George Latimer (D)

• State Assembly, 88th district: Amy Paulin (D)

• State Assembly, 97th district: Annie Rabbitt  (R)

• State Assembly, 96th district: Richard Randazzo