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7th State Senate district special election set for Feb. 6

by: Scott in NJ

Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 12:47:18 PM EST

Newsday reports that the special election for the seat of former Senator and incoming Homeland Security Director Michael Balboni (R) will be held on Tuesday, February 6.

The Republicans have nominated Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, who reportedly has the Independence and Conservative lines as well. The Democrats will pick their candidate on Monday; Nassau County Legislator Craig Johnson is the front-runner for that nomination. Johnson has run on the WFP line in the past and he will probably get row E against O'Connell. Insiders suggest that the parties could spend up to $4 million on the race.

Scott in NJ :: 7th State Senate district special election set for Feb. 6

As of December, the Senate Republican Campaign Committee had $580,490.96 on hand; the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee had $143,166.31. O'Connell can expect substantial support from the Nassau County Republican Committee, which has $1,359,471.43 on hand. The County Democrats spent all of their cash on the 2006 campaign.

Tom Suozzi had $560,190.76 left over after his primary run, but he might have spread some of that money out among '06 general election candidates. FWIW, Johnson supported Spitzer over Suozzi in '06. Spitzer-Paterson 2006 still had $5,529,993.05 in the coffers after the general election.

Democrats hold a 38-35 registration edge in the district.

Tags: Special Election, State Senate, Maureen O'Connell, Craig Johnson, SSD-07 Special Election, SSD-07, (All Tags)

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7th State Senate district special election set for Feb. 6 | 10 comments

so i guess DiNapoli (0.00 / 0)

passed? i noticed he wasn't mentioned in the NYT piece about O'Connell being chosen either.

TODAY is day one. It always is.

by: phillip anderson @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 17:59:39 PM UTC

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He wants to be Comptroller n/t (0.00 / 0)

by: Scott in NJ @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 18:10:49 PM UTC

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i knew that he wanted that before spitz chose balboni (0.00 / 0)

then he was mentioned dozens of times as the guy with right of first refusal, so to speak. now? he isn't mentioned at all, which leads me to believe that he will be comptroller.

TODAY is day one. It always is.

by: phillip anderson @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 18:30:50 PM UTC

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This is going to be a real expensive race... (0.00 / 0)

FYI:

Here's a photo of Johnson. He's supposedly very popular in his legislative district.

More info can be found Here.

We've got some work ahead of us.

by: NYBri @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 18:20:32 PM UTC

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And Ms. O'Connell.... (0.00 / 0)

And here is a shot of Ms. O'Connell.

And more info Here.

We've got some work ahead of us.

by: NYBri @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 18:43:28 PM UTC

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About 22% of the 7th district (4.00 / 1)

is in Johnson's legislative district.

by: Scott in NJ @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 18:48:14 PM UTC

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Is that 22.3% or 21.8%....? (0.00 / 0)

Come on Scott...what's up with you numbers?

:>)

We've got some work ahead of us.

by: NYBri @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 19:14:54 PM UTC

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some more deets from CC (0.00 / 0)

Isn't That Special?

For the record, Balboni has repeatedly said he intends to stay out of this race. However, I'm told his longtime political consultant/strategist, Norman Adler, will be running things for the Nassau County GOP, which has long been headed by new state Republican Chairman Joe Mondello.
...
t will be interesting to see how involved Spitzer gets in trying to further narrow the GOP Senate majority to two seats rather than three. Of course, he won't have all that much time on his hands until after Jan. 31, since he'll be working on his first executive budget. But it's arguably that last week that counts the most anyway.

TODAY is day one. It always is.

by: phillip anderson @ Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 20:04:49 PM UTC

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Suozzi gave $65K to Nassau Dems on 9/29/06. (4.00 / 1)

This means he still might have ~$500K on hand to potentially do something else someday. Anyone know if he had even been mentioned as a possible candidate for this seat? I know it would mean a cut in pay and probably status, but it would also be a way to more directly demonstrate his avowed "Fix Albany" interests.

by: teaparty2 @ Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 02:50:09 AM UTC

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Suozzi for NY-03 (0.00 / 0)

Something tells me his ego is too big for it. Let's hope he swallows his pride and stumps for Johnson though.

HOWEVER, what do you think the chances are we can get Suozzi to take out Peter King once and for all come 08? Or will it be a Mejias/Denenberg showdown?

Peter King writes me Nasty Letters.

by: tzfoley @ Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 06:57:32 AM UTC

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7th State Senate district special election set for Feb. 6 | 10 comments

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